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Jun 2025

New Zealand: Only 3% of Nat CAT spending allocated to risk reduction and resilience

Source: Asia Insurance Review | Jun 2025

The New Zealand government has spent at least NZ$19bn ($11.2bn) on responding to natural hazards since 2010, and a further NZ$14bn through its public insurance schemes, according to research commissioned by IAG New Zealand. When the NZ$31bn spent by private insurers is included, the total cost of natural hazards since 2010 is NZ$64bn ($37.7bn). 
 
The research also shows that 97% of the government’s expenditure was on responding to and recovering from natural disasters, with the response to the 2010-2011 Canterbury earthquakes, the 2016 Kaikoura earthquake and the North Island weather events of 2023 dominating spending. Only 3% was spent on risk reduction and resilience.
 
This research does not include significant spending by local government, such as the NZ$8.2bn that the Christchurch City Council is projected to ultimately spend on recovery in response to the Canterbury and Kaikoura earthquakes. It also does not include the wider social and economic costs which the professional services firm Deloitte suggests could account for at least 50% more cost. 
 
IAG New Zealand CEO Amanda Whiting said in a statement that it was clear from the research that New Zealand has an incomplete understanding of the costs of its natural hazards. “Fixing this will enable better decisions to be made on when, where and how to reduce risk. This is becoming even more important as natural hazard events increase in frequency and severity,” she said.
 
She added that IAG continues to invest significantly in data and its application to improve decision-making and is working with government and other partners to put this capability to use in improving how natural hazard risk is managed. A 
 
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