Turkey: Insurance industry shows impressive 1Q growth
Source: Middle East Insurance Review | Jul 2016
The Turkish non-life sector has made a good start to 2016 by chalking up underwriting profits of TRY108 million (US$36.8 million) for the first quarter of this year, according to data from the Turkey Insurance Association (TSB).
An improvement was made in motor business, which saw underwriting losses reduced by half to TRY337 million in the first quarter of this year, from TRY748 million for the corresponding quarter of last year.
There was a significant increase in profits in fire and natural disaster insurance, with underwriting gains of TRY89 million in the first quarter of the year compared to profits of TRY29 million a year ago.
Health insurance also saw increased underwriting profits in the first quarter to TRY16 million, compared to the same period last year when gains were TRY11 million. Life insurance increased technical profits to TRY154 million in the first quarter of this year from TRY144 million in the first three months of last year.
In the first quarter of 2016, total premiums in the Turkish insurance market reached TRY10.7 billion, a 35.6% increase over the same quarter last year. Non-life premiums soared by 38.3% to TRY9.6 billion, while life premiums rose by 16.3%.
The growth in premiums was driven by motor third-party liability insurance where premiums surged by 115.7% to TRY3 billion. This branch was the largest non-life class of business, contributing 31% of total non-life premiums.
TRY1 = US$0.34