We are hearing more and more talk about the growing number of natural disasters around the world. Needless to say, the stakes for the insurance industry are very high. Here's an overview of the situation.

According to the latest annual report on financial institutions issued by Quebec's Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), the costs of disasters due to extreme weather conditions in Canada over the past decade totalled $1.07 billion per year on average. This represents an increase of slightly more than 50% compared to the average costs for 1996 to 2005 ($673 million per year). It should be noted that the 1996-2005 period was three times costlier than the previous decade (average of $224 million per year).

As the following graph clearly shows, the costs associated with disaster-related claims in Canada appear to be on the upswing.

Source: AMF 2015 annual report on financial institutions.

The above figures do not even include 2015, when Canada experienced its biggest natural disaster of all time: the Fort McMurray forest fires destroyed 2,400 homes and led to the evacuation of some 100,000 people.