Insurance and reinsurance industry losses from natural catastrophes and man-made disaster events during 2016 are expected to come out at around $49 billion by Swiss Re , up by 33% on 2015 but slightly below the 10-year average. The gap between total losses and the amount covered by insurance and reinsurance is again wide, highlighting the much-discussed protection gap, as economic losses from natural catastrophe and man-made disaster events in 2016 hit $158 billion, an increase of 68% on 2015’s figure.