Economic shocks are limiting fiscal growth across the globe; however, investment in artificial intelligence is offsetting many of the negative effects of geopolitical conflict, according to a report from insurer Swiss Re Group.
While the insurance industry is navigating a slowdown in insurance premium growth—Swiss Re estimated 1.3% growth this year and 1.6% in 2027, down from 3.9% in 2025—an artificial intelligence investment boom is expanding the pool of insurable assets, providing tailwinds for the sector.
“As economies invest in AI infrastructure, energy systems and more resilient supply chains, entirely new pools of risk are emerging. Insurance has a vital role to play—not only in derisking these investments, but in enabling the real economic transformation and giving the risk a price,” wrote Jérôme Jean Haegeli, Swiss Re’s group chief economist, in the report.
AI-related capital expenditures accounted for 40% of U.S. gross domestic product growth in the first three quarters of 2025, according to the report, which estimated $750 billion in such capital expenditure in 2026.
The growth of digital infrastructure is creating a large pool of assets that need to be insured, especially in disaster-prone areas, the report stated. Swiss Re estimated that 40% of data-center assets are being built in areas that have at least three days with tornadoes per year.
“The issue is compounded when developers build large clusters of data centers, as is occurring in locations such as Abilene, Texas, and in Virginia,” the report stated. “Placing multiple sites within [an approximate] 20-mile radius means a regional natural catastrophe event can cause a significant accumulation of insured values.”
Additionally, the insurer estimated that one-quarter of data centers are being built in areas with elevated exposure to hail. This is an increasing risk for insurers, as insured losses from natural catastrophes are rising by 5% to 7% annually, according to Swiss Re’s report.
With data centers costing up to $20 billion scheduled to be built, lenders are beginning to require large insurance limits before they commit to financing any new projects, the report stated.
“The world economy is entering a large capex cycle, with major new investments in insurable assets across data centers, energy infrastructure and advanced manufacturing,” the report stated. “These assets carry complex risk profiles and are often concentrated in regions exposed to natural hazards. This underscores the role of re/insurance in deploying global pools of capital for local recovery and recapitalization. For example, when hurricanes Wilma, Rita and Katrina struck the U.S. in 2005, global re/insurance payments covered more than half of the insured loss, enabling households and insurers to recover. Global capital movement is vital to an efficient supply of re/insurance capacity and sustaining this capacity to absorb and share risk is key to global resilience.”