UAE: The MENA zone’s biggest insurance market in 2019

In 2019, the United Arab Emirates preserved its leading position on the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) zone’s insurance market.

According to Swiss Re’s study called “Sigma N°4/2020”, the UAE's premiums increased by 6.8%, moving from 43.7 billion AED (11.898 billion USD) in 2018 to 46.7 billion AED (12.712 billion USD) in 2019.

The non-life activity increased by 8% to reach 36.9 billion AED (10.044 billion USD) in 2019 against 34.2 billion AED (9.311 billion USD) in 2018. The life class of business recorded 9.75 billion AED (2.654 billion USD) in premiums against 9.51 billion AED (2.589 billion USD) in 2018: a slight increase of 2.6%.

With 10.9 billion USD in premiums Saudi Arabia holds the second position in the MENA zone’s classification established by Swiss Re. The country is followed by Morocco (4.6 billion USD) and Egypt (1.9 billion USD). Regionally, the Emirati market overtakes Turkey and Iran.

It ranks 4th among the emerging markets of the EMEA zone (Europe, Middle East and Africa), behind South Africa, Russia and Poland. Globally, the UAE ranked 37th in 2019, moving two positions forward compared to 2018.

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