Türkiye: Insurance association head presents industry report card and wishlist
Source: Middle East Insurance Review | May 2024
The insurance market in Türkiye generated a total premium income of TRY483bn ($15.1bn) in 2023, an increase of 105% compared to 2022, said Insurance Association of Türkiye (TSB) president Ugur Gulen.
This was despite 2023 being a difficult year for the sector with exchange rate uncertainties, economic fluctuations, damages caused by the 6 February Kahramanmaras earthquakes and rising reinsurance costs.
Mr Gulen said, “The insurance penetration rate, which is our top priority, has increased in the last 10 years,” adding, “We are rapidly moving towards our goal of reaching 3%.”
“The amount of compensation paid by our sector in 2023 amounted to TRY327bn,” he said.
The figures cited by Mr Gulen were not inflation-adjusted. The monthly inflation rate in Türkiye in 2023 varied, standing at 64.3% in January, and falling to 38.2% in July before rising to 64.8% in December 2023.
Mr Gulen also talked about the increasing importance of building completion insurance and receivables insurance and expressed confidence in the rising popularity of the Private Pension System (BES).
He said that the biggest challenges for the insurance sector would be climate change and Nat CAT, adding, “In Türkiye, the most important risk in particular— the expected Marmara earthquake — stands before us. With the awareness that this cannot be avoided, we believe that the way to take action is with the support of the state to raise public awareness.” M