Jordan: 1H premiums grow 4.6% but profits dive 86%
Source: Middle East Insurance Review | Oct 2017
The domestic insurance market in Jordan showed growth in written premiums of 4.6% to JOD315.8 million (US$445.4 million) in the first half of 2017 compared to the corresponding period last year. This growth was better than the 3.3% increase shown in 1H2016.
However, the 24 insurers operating in the market posted a total pre-tax profit of JOD3.3 million in the first half of this year, an 86% plunge from that of the same period in 2016, mainly due to losses in medical insurance, according to media reports.
This was despite total compensation paid in the first six months of this year dipping by 1.5% to JOD228.8 million y-o-y.
At the same time, the two takaful operators in the market chalked up premiums of JOD32 million in the first half of this year, up 10.2% compared to the corresponding period in 2016. Together, they contributed 10.1% of the total written premiums in the market in the January-June period. Compensation paid in the first half of 2017 amounted to JOD21.4 million, a decrease of 2.6% from the same period of 2016. This represented 9.3% of the total claims paid in the overall insurance market in the first half of this year. M
JOD1 = US$1.41