Swiss Re: 44.4 billion dirhams in total insurance premiums in 2021

The UAE is the largest insurance market in the Arab world, and the first among emerging markets

Total life insurance premiums in the UAE market reached 8.3 billion dirhams in 2021. Archive

Swiss Re, the Swiss international reinsurance company, reported that the UAE ranked first in the Arab region, as the largest insurance market in terms of total insurance premiums, which was estimated at about $12.1 billion (about 44.4 billion dirhams) during the year 2021, compared to more than 11.57 billion dollars (about 42.4 billion dirhams) in the previous year, with a growth rate of about 4.7%.

Emerging Markets

According to the company's annual survey, which "Emirates Today" obtained a copy of, the UAE also ranked first among the emerging markets in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, in terms of insurance density (ie the ratio of insurance premiums to the total population).

life insurance

Swiss Re indicated that the total life insurance premiums in the UAE market amounted to about 8.3 billion dirhams during 2021, compared to about 7.9 billion dirhams in 2020, while the total general insurance premiums exceeded 36 billion dirhams, compared to 34.5 billion dirhams in 2020.

Swiss Re confirmed that the UAE is still the largest life insurance market in the Middle East, noting that the general insurance sector in the UAE has continued to record strong growth rates over the past years.

Insurance density

The company pointed out that the insurance density rate (the ratio of insurance premiums to the total population) in the UAE market amounted to 1,305 dollars during 2021 (about 4,790 dirhams per person), including about 244 dollars for life insurance, and 1,061 dollars for general insurance.

She indicated that the insurance penetration rate in the local market (the rate of insurance premiums to GDP) reached 2.9%, of which 0.5% was for life insurance premiums, and 2.3% for general insurance, pointing out that the UAE ranked 31st globally in the insurance density rate. It advanced one place, and ranked 47th globally in the insurance penetration rate.

Global Market

Globally, Swiss Re said that the total global insurance premiums in 2021 recorded a growth of 3.4% in real terms.

She added that the United States remains the largest insurance market in the world, with total insurance premiums of $2.8 trillion in 2021, to constitute, along with China and Japan, about 56 percent of global markets.

The company estimated an expected growth of 6.1% in total insurance premiums (life and general insurance) in 2022, and expected global premium volumes to exceed seven trillion dollars by the end of this year, for the first time ever.

The company stated that the global economy is facing a growth environment similar to a recession, as global growth is slowing down, while it is likely to continue in this way during the second half of this year due to tightening financial conditions and high levels of inflation.

And it expected global real GDP growth of 3.0% in 2022 and 2.6% in 2023, pointing out that monetary policy has become more restrictive, and commodity prices are still high and volatile, with the restrictions imposed on the “Covid-19” virus in China, and disruption to global supply chains.

The UAE is the first among the emerging markets in Europe, the Middle East and Africa in terms of the "density rate" of insurance.

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