Quake: Italians under-insured

The magnitude 6.2 earthquake that struck Italy’s Umbria region this week, killing at least 250 people, is estimated to have cost between $1 billion to $11 billion in economy-related losses.

But the level of cover taken out by Italians is very low. In 2014, insurance as a proportion of gross domestic product was 1.9%, Swiss Re says. That compares with 3.3% in France, 3.4% in Germany and 8.1% in the Netherlands. – Bloomberg