Health insurance was the branch with the highest share in the Turkish insurance market in the first quarter of this year, according to Mr Ahmet Yasar, President of the Insurance Association of Turkiye (TSB).
The health insurance branch generated TRY88.1bn ($1.9bn) in premiums in 1Q2026, representing an increase of 33.60%, compared to the corresponding quarter in 2025. Its share of the overall market was 25.94% in 1Q2026. Real growth in health insurance was 2.09% in the first quarter of this year.
Commenting on the country’s ageing population, he told Anadolu Agency, “Our population is aging. There is an increase in our need for healthcare, rising healthcare costs, issues related to elderly care, and our need for savings.”
Pointing out that the Social Security Institution's (SGK) share in healthcare expenditures is over 80%, Mr Yasar said that 10% of the population has both private health insurance and supplementary health insurance. “As private insurance companies, we can cover 2.8-3% of total healthcare expenditures. However, the healthcare expenses that our citizens pay for out of pocket are at the level of 15%."
Mr Yasar emphasised that simply increasing the number of people with supplementary health insurance is not enough, stating, "The capacity of our private hospitals also needs to be increased, or our university hospitals need to be included in the supplementary health insurance process."