Chinese market responsible for 47% of 2016’s global insurance growth

Allianz research has found that China was responsible for 47% of 2016’s growth in total global premium income. Of the EUR150 billion (US$160 billion) in additional premiums recorded globally in 2016, almost EUR70 billion is attributable to China. The research by Allianz suggests that total global premium income grew to EUR3,650 billion. In a year-on-year comparison the global insurance market grew 4.4%. Without China, the insurance world would have achieved growth of only 2.7%. The Chinese market was particularly pronounced in the life insurance business, where excluding the Chinese contribution from the equation would more than halve the rate of global growth from a respectable 4.7% to 2.3% in 2016. China’s fast development is one of the reasons for their performance; last year saw the Chinese life insurance market post the highest rate of growth seen since 2008, at over 30%. The decline in the life insurance markets elsewhere in the world also helped China record such high figures. In Western Europe, premium income is expected to have dropped by 1.2% overall in 2016, the first negative trend seen since 2012. The markets also contracted in parts of Eastern Europe, Poland and the Czech Republic, for example, have witnessed declines for the fourth year running.