Global insurance market report [gimar]

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Figure 2.1a:
Global insurance market renewal rates (Q1 2012 – Q1 2019)
Source: Marsh: “Global Insurance Market Index – First Quarter 2019”
Figure 2.1b:
Non-life profitability of selected jurisdictions – combined ratio
Sources: NBB, FINMA, BaFin, ACPR, IVASS, FSA, FSS, Bank of Russia, PRA, NAIC
2.1 NON-LIFE INSURANCE
The non-life insurance market is expected to 
grow by 3% each year between 2018 and
2020, driven by a growth rate of 8% in emerging 
markets and 2% in advanced economies.
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In its Global Insurance Market Index: First 
Quarter 2019 outlook, Marsh reports a sixth 
consecutive quarter of increasing commercial 
rates, with a 3% average rise in the first quarter 
of 2019. This trend has been mainly supported 
by developments in property insurance and 
directors’ and officers’ liability insurance. Prices 
in the non-life insurance market fluctuated within 
a narrow range. Property rates have consistently 
increased in all regions since the fourth 
quarter of 2017, following the extreme natural 
catastrophes that occurred that year.

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In its sigma research publication (no. 3/2019), the 
Swiss Re Institute discusses the events of 2018, 
in which half of total economic losses from natural 
and man-made disasters were insured ($81 billion 
out of $161 billion). The most severe event was the 
California Camp Fire, which made 2018 the year 
with the fourth highest one-year aggregate industry 
payout (above the $71 billion 10-year average).
The non-life market remains soft, although it 
is showing weak signs of recovery. This puts 
further downward pressure on its profitability, with 
returns barely covering the cost of capital. Natural 
catastrophes made 2017 and 2018 the highest 
consecutive two-year period of insured losses 
($219 billion) in recorded history.
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Increasing 
climate risks have led insurers and supervisors 
to develop tools to understand the natural 
catastrophe protection gap. Disasters driven by 
rising temperatures have a considerable impact 
on the global economy, with less developed 
regions being the most vulnerable.
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The combined ratio
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for selected jurisdictions 
between 2016 and 2018 can be seen below.