China drove global premium to $3.9 tln in 2016
Source: Middle East Insurance Review | Apr 2017
Total global premiums grew by 4.4% y-o-y to EUR3.65 trillion (US$3.9 trillion) in 2016, according to preliminary projections by Allianz. Of the EUR150 billion or so in additional premiums, almost EUR70 billion is attributable to China alone.
Without China, the global insurance industry would have achieved growth of only 2.7%, the German insurer said in a statement.
The “China effect” was particularly pronounced in the life sector. If China’s contribution was excluded from the equation, the rate of global growth would more than halve from a respectable 4.7% to 2.3% in 2016. China’s life market reported its highest growth rate at over 30% y-o-y since 2008.
Although China’s per-capita spending on life insurance of around EUR170 last year still has a long way to go before it catches up with the average for developed countries, its life penetration rate of 2.4% has already overtaken that of Austria and is very close to Germany’s 2.7%. The life penetration rate for western Europe averaged 4.7%. Globally, life premiums grew by an estimated 4.7% to EUR2.3 trillion.
In the P&C segment, global gross premiums are likely to have increased by 4.0%. The 2016 growth rate in P&C business was the weakest since 2010, after five years of growth averaging more than 5%. “The somewhat disappointing development last year is, however, almost an exact reflection of the drop in momentum in the global economy and global trade – both of which also fell slightly short of expectations in 2016,” the insurer said.
EUR1 = US$1.06