As wildfires, heatwaves, and extreme weather become a permanent feature of European summers, insurers are warning of a growing « protection gap » as disaster recovery costs outpace insurance coverage. A devastating wildfire in France and Spain has destroyed over 300,000 acres of land since July. Insurance companies paid out $56.3 billion in wildfire losses in the 2010s, six times more than the $8.7 billion paid out in the 2000s. The total cost of wildfires and heatwaves through the end of July reached approximately 3.1 billion euros for five eurozone countries exposed to the fires, above an average estimate of 2.5 billion euros annual impact for the entire EU.
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