Damage to buildings due to drought episodes observed in France in 2022 should cost between 1.6 and 2.4 billion euros. France Assureurs finally estimates that the claims recorded will cost between 1.9 and 2.8 billion euros.
Unless it is at the bottom of the range, this summer’s drought should therefore exceed that of 2003, with its 2.12 billion euros in claims recordeda record since the creation of the Natural Disasters scheme in 1982.
For municipalities recognized as victims of natural disasters
This estimate does not include that damage located in municipalities whose state of natural disaster will be recognized, and which will then be considered as consecutive to the drought. She does not take crop damage into accountwhich will be covered by specific insurance.
Drought, following a period of humidification, fuels the phenomenon of shrinkage-swelling of clay soils (RGA) which affects a good half of the territory of metropolitan France, and results in landslides likely to destabilize the foundations of houses.
This danger is both the most dynamic in terms of development, particularly due to climate change, and the least known, warned Florence Lustman, president of France Assureurs, quoted in the report.
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In France, about 54% of single-family homes are located in areas with medium or high exposure to RGA. And 3.3 million houses, or about 16% of the total, are located in high risk areas.
According to a study by the federation published in 2021, drought in France cost 14 billion euros between 1989 and 2019 and should cost around 43 billion between 2020 and 2050.
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