The world's largest reinsurer, Munich Re, has warned that the number of natural disasters is likely to increase in the coming years because of global warming and a rise in the world's population, according to a report on Reuters.

The news agency reported from Munich, Germany that in the year 2000 Munich Re said the world was hit by a record number of natural disasters.

Munich Re is reported as saying the number of what it categorises as natural disasters rose by more than 100 to 850 in 2000, although the number of deaths was much lower than in 1999 because less populated areas were affected.

It said 10,000 people died as a result of natural disasters in 2000 compared to 75,000 in 1999. Material damage was put at more than $30 billion in 2000.

"Accounting for the growth in world population and the rise in the concentration of property values, the losses caused by natural disasters must be expected to continue to rise in the future,'' Munich Re said.

"Global warming has to be slowed down. Otherwise the risk situation for insurers in many of the world's regions will intensify,'' said Gerhard Berz, head of its geo-science research group.

Munich Re said that since only $7.5 billion of the estimated damage caused by natural disasters in 2000 had been covered by insurance, it had actually been a relatively inexpensive year for policy underwriters.

Storms were clearly at the top of the list of disasters, accounting for 73 percent of all insured losses, while floods accounted for 23 percent of insured losses.

Flooding which hit Mozambique in February making half a million people homeless was the year's biggest catastrophe.

A series of devastating forest fires in the United States was the other major disaster, causing losses of more than $1 billion despite the fact that relatively few houses caught fire.

Dry weather and drought in Europe caused losses of more than $300 million when a severe heat wave in May and June destroyed crops in southeast Europe, particularly in Romania.

The cyclone season in the Pacific and North Atlantic produced a typical number of hurricanes and typhoons and cyclones, it said. The countries affected came off relatively lightly.