(Adds details, background, Marsh survey on insurance pricing)
ZURICH/LONDON, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Global insured losses from disasters plunged to $23 billion in the first half of 2017 from $36 billion a year earlier, Swiss Re estimates showed on Thursday.
Total economic losses from disasters dropped to $44 billion from $117 billion in the first half of 2016 as a result of fewer and less intense events, its preliminary estimates showed.
Lower levels of insurance payouts from natural catastrophes and other disasters have cut demand for insurance against such events, putting pressure on premiums.
Global insurance rates fell for a 17th consecutive quarter, second-quarter data from broker Marsh showed this week, with property rates down 2.8 percent.
Thunderstorms in the United States caused some of the largest losses, Swiss Re said. A four-day storm in Colorado and other southern and eastern states in May resulted in $1.9 billion in insured losses.
Cyclone Debbie, which hit the northeastern coast of Australia in March, led to $1.3 billion of insured losses.
Around 4,400 people died or went missing as a result of disasters in the first half, Swiss Re said, down from 4,800 a year earlier.
"The toll may rise once estimates on the number of victims of Europe's severe June heatwaves are included," it said.
(Reporting by Michael Shields in Zurich and Carolyn Cohn in London; Editing by Edmund Blair and David Evans)