Total life premiums generated in the Lebanese market reached US$504.6 million in 2016, constituting an increase of 7.1% from $471.1 million in 2015. Last year’s growth beat annual increases of 5.5% and 6.2% in 2014 and 2015, respectively, according to an annual survey by Al Bayan.
Life premiums in Lebanon have been growing steadily over the years. The premiums totalled $369.8 million in 2011, $391.6 million in 2012, $420.5 million in 2013 and $443.7 million in 2014.
MetLife maintained its market lead with $87.3 million in life premiums last year, equivalent to a 17.3% market share in 2016 relative to 18.7% in 2012. It was followed by Bancassurance with $76 million and a market share of 15.1%, Allianz SNA with $67.5 million (13.4%), ADIR with $45.3 million (9%), and LIA with $44.2 million (8.7%) as the top-five firms among 33 providers of life insurance in Lebanon, reported the Economic Research & Analysis Department of Byblos Bank, citing the survey.
The top-five life insurers in Lebanon accounted for 63.5% of the market in 2016 compared to 63.7% in 2015 and 62.8% in 2014. Their aggregate premiums reached $320.3 million in 2016 compared to $300 million in 2015 and $278.5 million in 2014.
The composition of the top-10 insurers in terms of premiums was unchanged from 2015. They were: MetLife, Bancassurance, Allianz, Byblos Bank’s insurance affiliate ADIR, LIA, Arope, Sogecap Liban, Bankers, AXA Middle East and MedGulf. However, within the top 10, the rankings showed changes. Bankers improved by two spots to eighth place, while MedGulf regressed by two spots to 10th place.
MedGulf posted a 9% drop in its premiums, constituting the only fall among the top 10 insurers in 2016.
In total, 19 life insurers posted increases in premiums last year, with one company posting a triple-digit growth rate, nine registering double-digit growth rates and nine posting single-digit growth. Also, 12 insurers saw a decline in their life premiums, while the premiums of two others were unchanged year-on-year. Further, nine of the top 10 life insurers posted increases in their premiums.
The top-10 providers of life insurance in Lebanon accounted for 87.1% of the life market share, while the top 20 firms generated 97.8% of life premiums in 2016.
Further, Al-Bayan’s survey showed that overall life and non-life premiums rose by 4.3% to $1.6 billion in 2016, compared to the 3.5% in 2015, with life premiums accounting for 31.6% of the total. In 2016, the top-10 insurers in Lebanon accounted for 63.8% of the combined life and non-life markets, while the top 20 firms represented 86.3% of aggregate premiums. Allianz SNA led all insurers with $131.1 million in total life and non-life premiums in 2016, followed by MetLife with premiums of $122.6 million and Bankers with $117.5 million. M