Life premiums are the ones pulling the turnover down(-4.4%), while non-life insurance decreased by just 2.6%.
Evolution of life and non life insurance: 2005-2009*
2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2008/2009 evolution | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Life premiums | 2003.6 | 2209.3 | 2 393.1 | 2 439 | 2 331.5 | -4.4% |
Non life premiums | 1442.2 | 1514.1 | 1 667.7 | 1 781 | 1734.5 | -2.6% |
Total | 3445.8 | 3723.4 | 4060.8 | 4 220 | 4066 | -3.6% |
Industrialized countries: a fall in premiums
Industrialized countries, which generate nearly 87% of the world contributions volume have posted a negative progression in their written premiums (-4.6%): the United States and the United Kingdom are the hardest hit, especially in life insurance, with respective decreases of 14.9% and 23.9% in nominal value.
Same trend in non-life business. Most industrialized countries (USA, UK, Japan, Italy) are exhibiting negative indicators: the fall is of 2.1% in the United States and 16.4% in the United Kingdom.
This decrease in premiums is accounted for by:
- the consequences of the financial crisis, which has continued to slow down growth,
- the depreciation of most currencies against the American dollar,
- the collapse in sales of savings and insurance products in unit of account,
- the uncertainty prevailing over financial markets.
Emerging markets: a substantial growth
In most emerging markets, mainly in Asia, insurance has continued its growth but at a slower pace. Premiums rose by 3.9% against 23.8% in 2008, that is, the poorest growth in 35 years. Despite this slowdown, the share of the emerging markets in the world premium volume has increased. It rose from 12% in 2008 to 13% in 2009.
Life insurance has been up by 4.9% against 23.9% a year earlier. Growth remained strong in South East Asia with an increase of 14%. Premiums have also increased in Latin America and the Caribbean (+4.3%) , whereas in Central and Eastern Europe they went down by 30%.
As for non-life insurance, growth has varied significantly from region to region. Premiums have increased by 14.8% in South East Asia and fallen significantly in Central and Eastern Europe (-7.8%).
For all of these markets, growth has been of 2.7% against 23.7% in 2008. This lack of dynamism is accounted for by a decline in marine and motor insurance.
Middle East: stagnation
After years of solid growth, the Middle East has exhibited deceiving results in 2009. Estimated at 3 billion USD, life premiums fell by 9% in comparison with the 27% increase in 2008. Large disparities have been noticed between the countries of this region. In Saudi Arabia, life and personal accident insurance has maintained a double-digit growth (+68%) in 2009, while in Oman, Jordan or Lebanon, the life and personal accident insurance premium volume has shrunk by respectively 4.6%, 2.2% and 20%.
Negatively impacted by the economic recession, non-life insurance has suffered a stagnation of its 2009 turnover which amounted to 24 billion USD, following a 20% rise in 2008.
Africa: a slight growth
The future of the African insurance market is promising despite the modest results achieved in 2009. Africa, whose share of the world insurance market remains minimal, at 1.2%, has collected 51 billion USD of premiums.
Life insurance has declined by 10% to reach 33 billion USD, whereas in 2008, it rose by almost 1%. The non-life class of business has grown by 1.1% compared to 5% in 2008. South Africa remains, by far the largest, market in the region accounting for over half of the non-life premiums and 90% of life premiums.
Evolution of premiums per zone: 2005-2009
2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2009 shares in % | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Western Europe | 1288 386 | 1398 515 | 1606 324 | 1605 623 | 1525 953 | 37.53 |
North America | 1187 853 | 1262 060 | 1330 066 | 1344 105 | 1238 586 | 30.47 |
Japan & South East Asia | 748 504 | 758 100 | 817 408 | 906 047 | 960 899 | 23.63 |
Latin America & the Caribbean | 58 787 | 71 532 | 87 397 | 106 302 | 110 910 | 2.73 |
Central & Eastern Europe | 46 671 | 56 994 | 74 369 | 98 090 | 84 667 | 2.08 |
Oceania | 56 190 | 58 238 | 68 818 | 78 543 | 67 241 | 1.65 |
Africa | 42 718 | 49 874 | 53 294 | 52 829 | 49 287 | 1.21 |
Near East & Central Asia | 16 706 | 19 579 | 23 194 | 28 531 | 28 552 | 0.70 |
Total world | 3445 815 | 3674 892 | 4060 870 | 4220 070 | 4066 095 | 100 |