INSURANCE PREMIUMS IN LEBANON AT $1,332.33 MILLION YTD SEPTEMBER 2021

Published on: 22/12/2021

Gross written premiums in the insurance sector rose by 12.39% on an annual basis to $1,332.33 million during the first nine months of 2021, from $1,185.45 million during that same period in 2020.

The Insurance Control Commission published its “Insurance Sector Quarterly Report”, conveying a 12.39% annual hike in the sector’s gross written premiums to $1,332.33 million during the first nine months of 2021, from $1,185.45 million during that same period in 2020.

In detail, non-life insurance premiums soared by 20.30% to $1,052.01 million, outweighing the 9.86% drop in life insurance premiums to $280.32 million. The health insurance segment amassed 38.46% of the Lebanese insurance sector’s gross written premiums, followed by the motor (24.91%), life (21.04%), and property & casualty (15.59%) segments. It is worth noting, in this vein, that Bankers led the list of insurance companies in Lebanon in terms of gross written premiums, which stood at $137.96 million YTD September 2021 (10.36% market share), followed by Medgulf ($111.86 million; <8.40%>), Allianz SNA ($103.77 million; <7.79%>), and GroupMed ($92.44 million; <6.94%>), only to name a few.

Similarly, the Lebanese insurance sector’s paid benefits increased by 8.44% annually to $845.48 million during the first nine months of 2021, up from $779.65 million a year before on the back of some 20.58% expansion in non-life insurance reported claims to $583.05 million, outweighing the 11.38% decrease in life insurance reported claims to $262.43 million.

Claims were mostly concentrated in the health insurance segment (68.84%), followed by the motor (23.15%), life (5.35%), and property & casualty (2.66%) insurance segments.

Furthermore, the Lebanese insurance sector’s expenditures for acquisition and administration came in 17.28% higher on a yearly basis at $392.47 million, while it registered a net investment income of $65.08 million in comparison with a net investment loss of $113.24 million in the first nine months of 2020.