Lebanon: Sector posts 6% fall in premiums in 1H
Source: Middle East Insurance Review | Jan 2021
Insurance premiums generated in Lebanon totalled $822.8m in the first half of 2020, constituting a decrease of 6% from $874.3m in the same half of 2019, according to data released by the Association of Insurance Companies in Lebanon (ACAL).
Premiums reached $429m in the first quarter of this year and $393.7m in the second quarter, according to an article in ‘Lebanon This Week’ published by the Economic Research & Analysis Department of Byblos Bank, which cited the ACAL data.
The breakdown of premiums posted by the different classes of business in 1H2020 is as follows:
Protection with savings policies accounted for 62.3% of total life premiums and for 14% of the number of life insurance contracts in 1H2020, while life protection plans represented 37.7% of life premiums and 86% of the number of life contracts during the covered period.
Claims
ACAL indicated that benefits and claims paid by insurance companies stood at $531.1m in 1H2020, up 8% from $490m in the same period of 2019. Benefits and claims reached $274.2m in the first quarter and $257m in the second quarter of 2020. Benefits and claims paid for the non-life categories totalled $337.2m in 1H2020 and decreased by 5.6% from $357.4m in the same half of 2019, while claims disbursed for the life insurance category amounted to $193.8m and increased by 46% from $132.5m in the same period of 2019.
The branches of insurance with the highest claim payouts in 1H2020 were: medical insurance, which accounted for 41.4% of total claim payments; life insurance (36.5%); and motor insurance (14.2%).
Life insurance claims surged by 46% y-o-y in 1H2020, fire claims rose by 20%, medical claims increased by 9%, and cargo claims grew by 8%. In contrast, engineering claims declined by 75% in the first six months, public liability claims dropped by 40%, motor claims fell by 27%, and workmen compensation claims decreased by 14%. M