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GDP exposure to damaging severe storm winds projected to rise 14%

First Street estimates severe convective storm winds are tied to about $82 billion in global economic losses in 2025 and account for nearly one-third of worldwide natural catastrophe losses.

Reported · Written up by our desk · Property Insurance

Global GDP exposure to damaging severe convective storm, or SCS, winds is projected to increase 14% over the next 30 years, reaching $20.2 trillion, according to a new report from First Street, a climate risk financial modeling provider.

The firm said SCS has become one of the fastest-growing physical climate risks and is the single costliest insured peril of the 21st century. For 2025 alone, SCS generated approximately $82 billion in global economic losses, which is nearly one-third of all natural catastrophe losses worldwide.

First Street projected that $17.8 trillion in annual global GDP, or 9.8% of global economic output, along with about 907 million people, is exposed each year to damaging SCS winds of at least 65 mph. It also estimated $10.6 trillion in GDP, or 5.8% of global economic output, along with roughly 567 million people, is exposed to damaging hail of one inch or greater, with the hail-related figure expected to rise to $10.8 trillion over the next three decades.

Regionally, the Americas have the highest relative exposure, with 13.6% of regional GDP exposed annually to damaging winds and 11.2% to hail. The report also said climate change is expected to accelerate exposure, with projections of more than 18% increases in Asia-Pacific and about 14% across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa within the next three decades.

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