MUNICH (dpa-AFX) - The next round of price hikes is on the horizon in the insurance industry due to a sharp rise in costs. The world's largest reinsurer Munich Re wants to take inflation into account as a "significant factor" in the upcoming price negotiations with primary insurers, the company announced on Thursday. A second price driver, according to the statement, is natural catastrophes.

For their part, primary insurers such as Allianz or Generali take out insurance to be prepared for unexpectedly high losses. Munich Re and other reinsurers take on this business. Price increases in reinsurance business are therefore not directly felt by consumers, but primary insurers naturally seek to pass on higher costs to customers.

By Munich Re's count, there have been at least seven natural catastrophes in Europe this year, each with insured losses of more than a billion euros. "On a global level, we see a clear trend of increasing losses from weather-related events over the past decade," said Clarisse Kopff, Munich Re's board member responsible for Europe and Latin America. "This applies not only to the number but also to the severity of individual natural catastrophes."/cho/DP/stw