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Nearly 3,000 people perished in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania, excluding the 19 hijackers. Total insured losses from the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon were about $43.6 billion in 2015 dollars, including property, life and liability insurance claim costs. Loss estimates may differ from estimates calculated by other organizations. It is the worst terrorist attack on record in terms of fatalities and insured property losses, which totaled about $25.2 billion (in 2015 dollars).

 

Top 20 Costliest Terrorist Acts By Insured Property Losses

(2016 $ millions)

Rank Date Country Location Event Insured
property
loss (1)		 Fatalities
1 September 11, 2001 United States New York,
Washington DC,
Pennsylvania		 Hijacked airliners crash
into World Trade Center
and Pentagon		  $25,674 2,982
2 April 24, 1993 United Kingdom London Bomb explodes near
NatWest tower in the
financial district		 1,240 1
3 June 15, 1996 United Kingdom Manchester Irish Republican Army (IRA) car bomb explodes near
shopping mall		 1,017 0
4 April 10, 1992 United Kingdom London Bomb explodes in financial district 918 3
5 February 26, 1993 United States New York Bomb explodes in garage
of World Trade Center		 854 6
6 July 24, 2001 Sri Lanka Colombo Rebels destroy 3 airliners,
8 military aircraft and
heavily damage
3 civilian aircraft		 544 20
7 February 9, 1996 United Kingdom London IRA bomb explodes in
South Key Docklands		 354 2
8 June 23, 1985 North Atlantic Irish Sea Bomb explodes on board
of an Air India Boeing 747		 222 329
9 April 19, 1995 United States OK, Oklahoma City Truck bomb crashes into
government building		 199 166
10 September 12, 1970 Jordan Zerqa, Dawson's Field
(disused RAF
airstrip in desert)		 Hijacked Swissair DC-8,
TWA Boeing 707,
BOAC VC-10 dynamited
on ground		 174 0
11 September 6, 1970 Egypt Cairo Hijacked PanAm B-747
dynamited on ground		 151 0
12 April 11, 1992 United Kingdom London Bomb explodes in
financial district		 131 0
13 November 26, 2008 India Mumbai Attack on two hotels;
Jewish center		 115 172
14 March 27, 1993 Germany Weiterstadt Bomb attack on a newly built, still unoccupied prison 97 0
15 December 30, 2006 Spain Madrid Bomb explodes in car
garage at Barajas Airport		 80 2
16 December 21, 1988 United Kingdom Lockerbie Bomb explodes on board
of a PanAm Boeing 747		 78 270
17 July 25, 1983 Sri Lanka   Riot 64 0
18 July 7, 2005 United Kingdom London Four bombs explode during rush hour in a tube and bus 64 52
19 November 23, 1996 Comoros Indian Ocean Hijacked Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 767-260 ditched at sea 61 127
20 March 17, 1992 Argentina Buenos Aires Bomb attack on Israel's
embassy in Buenos Aires		 52 24

(1) Includes bodily injury and aviation hull losses. Updated to 2016 dollars by the Insurance Information Institute using the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI Inflation Calculator.
(2) Differs from inflation-adjusted estimates made by other organizations due to the use of different deflators.

Source: Swiss Re.

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