The size of the insurance industry

It is important to remember just howlarge the insurance sector is. According to Swiss Re,2 worldwide insurance premia in 2005 amounted to USD 3,426 billion, of which USD 1,452 billion were in non-life insurance. Insured losses from natural catastrophes and man-made disasters alone reached a record USD 80 billion in 2005 (see Graph 1), mainly due to the very heavy losses from hurricanes in the U.S