Zurich - During 2008, 240,500 people were killed by natural and man-made disasters and it one of the "costliest catastrophe years" ever for insurance companies, a study showed Tuesday.

The research done for Swiss Re, the re-insurer, said there were 311 "catastrophic events" last year, of which 137 were considered natural disasters. The total direct damage to the world economy was estimated to stand at 269 billion dollars.

Most of the fatalities were in Asia, affected by Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar, which left 138,000 people dead, and the massive earthquake in China's Sichuan region.

That earthquake, in addition to killing over 87,00 people, also exacted from the economy a high cost of 124 billion dollars, equal to 3 per cent of China's gross domestic product.

In total, some 52 billion dollars of insured property was damaged by these catastrophic events, of which 44 billion were due to natural disasters.

The biggest claims were made in the United States, following hurricanes Ike and Gustov.

Swiss Re, which reported 737 million dollars in losses in 2008, mostly on bad investments, said payouts from catastrophes had also significantly impacted the company's balance sheet and profits. (dpa)