Global non-life premiums hiked 2.9% in 2014: Swiss Re

Strong performance across both developed and emerging markets drove solid growth in non-life premiums in 2014.

This is according to Swiss Re’s latest sigma study, which added that overall total direct premiums written (life and non-life) were up 3.7 percent in 2014 to $4.8 trillion after having stagnated the previous year.

Global non-life premiums increased by 2.9 percent in 2014 to $2.1 trillion, slightly higher than the 2.7 percent growth rate of 2013. North America saw significant improvement of 2.6 percent and Western Europe returned to slow growth of 0.6 percent after years of decline and stagnation.

However, in what the report calls “advanced Asia” premiums grew by 1.7 percent, which was less than in 2013, and emerging markets continued their robust premium growth trend of 8 percent.

In the emerging markets, non-life premiums grew by 8 percent in 2014, with the key drivers being solid gains in China, mainly in the motor, credit and guarantee and agricultural lines, and in India where an improvement in business sentiment and economic growth boosted premiums.

“In both the advanced and emerging markets, the post-crisis annual average premium growth rate has fallen short of the pre-crisis pace,” said the report.