Lebanon: Non-life premiums grow marginally in 2020 despite economic and political ills
Source: Middle East Insurance Review | Apr 2021
Non-life premiums generated by 38 insurance companies operating in Lebanon reached $1.16bn in 2020, up 2% from $1.13bn produced by 44 insurers in 2019, according to the annual survey by Al-Bayan magazine of the insurance sector in Lebanon.
This was despite the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the US dollar shortage, the plunge in the value of the Lebanese pound, political turmoil, street violence and the 4 August Beirut Port explosion.
In comparison, non-life premiums decreased by 3% in 2019, compared to increases of 3.4% in 2018 and 2.3% in 2017, according to a report in Lebanon This Week by the Economic Research & Analysis Department of Byblos Bank that cited the Al Bayan analysis.
The five biggest insurers in Lebanon in 2020 in terms of non-life premiums remained as the top five companies as in 2019, except that there was a reshuffle in their rankings, as is shown below. M