PERILS AG has issued its final industry loss estimate for the floods that occurred in southern Germany between 31 May and 6 June 2024. The organisation places total insured losses at €1.564 bn.
This figure is slightly below the three earlier estimates released six weeks, three months, and six months after the event, which were €1.568 bn, €1.590 bn, and €1.582 bn, respectively.
Residential property accounted for 63% of the total insured losses, while commercial property made up the remaining 37%. More than 96% of losses were concentrated in the federal states of Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria.
The final report includes a breakdown of losses by two-digit postal code (low-resolution CRESTA Zones), with further segmentation by occupancy type (residential, commercial, and industrial) and by loss category (buildings, contents, and business interruption).
Southern Germany experienced prolonged rainfall beginning in late May 2024, caused by a low-pressure system carrying moisture from the Mediterranean.
Areas between Stuttgart and Munich recorded 48-hour precipitation exceeding 1-in-100-year return levels. The month of May 2024 was the third wettest May on record in Germany since 1881.
As the rain fell on saturated ground and already elevated water levels, extensive flooding followed, prompting mass evacuations and severe damage to infrastructure, homes, and agricultural areas. Six fatalities were reported in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg.
The insurance sector responded effectively, drawing on experience from previous flood events such as the July 2021 Ahrtal floods.
However, the 2024 floods intensified public and political discussion about introducing mandatory flood insurance for homeowners. The newly elected federal government appears open to implementing a system covering broader atmospheric perils, similar to schemes already operating in countries like France and Switzerland.
According to PERILS Product Manager Luzi Hitz, Germany has recorded four major flood disasters since 2002—occurring in 2002, 2013, 2021, and 2024. He noted that warming temperatures are increasing the atmosphere’s water-holding capacity, raising the likelihood of similar extreme rainfall events.
With largescale events in 2002, 2013, 2021, and 2024, Germany has experienced four catastrophic floods in the last 24 years. Moreover, as the warming climate increases the capacity of the atmosphere to carry water, extreme rainfall episodes such as during the event in southern Germany last year could become more frequent.
Luzi Hitz, Product Manager at PERILS
“It is therefore not surprising that mandatory flood insurance, which is in place in France or Switzerland, is being seriously considered in Germany,” Luzi Hitz commented.
