The Importance of the Insurance Industry: An International Comparison
Insurance penetration (premium volume as % of GDP) measures the significance of the insurance industry in relation to a country's entire economic productivity.. This figure provides a good indication of the stage of development of an insurance market.
The insurance density (premium per capita in US$) indicates how much the inhabitant of a country spends on average on insurance. This figure provides an indication of the insurance purchasing power in a country. When making comparisons over a period of time it should be noted that these figures are subject to deviations due to currency exchange rate fluctuations.
Life Penetration: Three Countries with over 10% Share of GDP – 45 Markets with less than 1%
Non-Life Penetration: Maximum at almost 5% of GDP
Non-life insurance is more widespread in the industrialized countries than in the developing countries. This is largely due to the great degree of industrialization and the more capital intensive means of production. Various other reasons exist for the different degrees of penetration, ranging from risk exposure due to natural disasters (volcanoes, cyclones, floods, etc.) and due to major industrial installations (e.g., oil refineries, chemical plants, etc.) through the legislative environment (e.g., liability regulations) to the characteristics of individual insurance markets (regulation, pricing).
The highest penetration in non-life business is to be found in the USA with almost 5%. This reflects the importance of private health insurance and the significance of private liability and its insurance. Most of the remaining industrialized countries recorded levels of between 2.5% and 4.0%. In accordance with the average weighting of the industrialized countries, 3.3% of global gross domestic product was spent on insurance premiums for non-life insurance in the year under review.
Insurance penetration (premium volume as % of GDP) measures the significance of the insurance industry in relation to a country's entire economic productivity.. This figure provides a good indication of the stage of development of an insurance market.
The insurance density (premium per capita in US$) indicates how much the inhabitant of a country spends on average on insurance. This figure provides an indication of the insurance purchasing power in a country. When making comparisons over a period of time it should be noted that these figures are subject to deviations due to currency exchange rate fluctuations.
Life Penetration: Three Countries with over 10% Share of GDP – 45 Markets with less than 1%
Non-Life Penetration: Maximum at almost 5% of GDP
Non-life insurance is more widespread in the industrialized countries than in the developing countries. This is largely due to the great degree of industrialization and the more capital intensive means of production. Various other reasons exist for the different degrees of penetration, ranging from risk exposure due to natural disasters (volcanoes, cyclones, floods, etc.) and due to major industrial installations (e.g., oil refineries, chemical plants, etc.) through the legislative environment (e.g., liability regulations) to the characteristics of individual insurance markets (regulation, pricing).
The highest penetration in non-life business is to be found in the USA with almost 5%. This reflects the importance of private health insurance and the significance of private liability and its insurance. Most of the remaining industrialized countries recorded levels of between 2.5% and 4.0%. In accordance with the average weighting of the industrialized countries, 3.3% of global gross domestic product was spent on insurance premiums for non-life insurance in the year under review.