Takaful - Saudi Arabia: Vision 2030 to fuel at least 15% insurance growth per year
Source: Middle East Insurance Review | Jun 2016
The Saudi Arabian government’s long-term economic blueprint to transform the country is forecast to push growth in the insurance industry by at least 15% per year over the next five years, according to an industry expert Dr Murad Zureikat.
He said that the insurance sector will be among the biggest gainers of “Saudi Vision 2030”, because of spending on projects and privatisation of programmes that would increase the demand for insurance products.
Among the several goals in “Saudi Vision 2030”, which was unveiled last April, is a target to wean the Kingdom off dependence on oil by 2020. The government aims to diversify its revenues through increased privatisation in areas like healthcare and education, as well as expanding the country’s manufacturing base and investing in alternative energy sources. Major infrastructure projects including urban development and housing are on the drawing board. The Kingdom would also open its doors wider to tourists, other than pilgrims.
These moves spell increases in demand for insurance such as construction, engineering, medical, property, etc.
The size of the Saudi Arabian insurance market was around SAR35 billion (US$9.3 billion) in 2015, an increase of around 15% from SAR30.5 billion in 2014.
SAR1 = US$0.27