India’s insurance sector to be fastest among G20 between 2024-28

 Mumbai: India’s insurance sector is likely to be fastest growing among G20 countries from 2024-2028 with an inflation adjusted growth rate of 7.1 per cent according to reinsurance giant Swiss Re. This growth would be driven by high economic growth, an expanding middle class, innovation, and regulatory support. In line the insurance penetration is expected to rise from 3.8 per cent to 4.5 per cent by 2034.

“Over the next five years (2024‒28), we forecast that total insurance premiums will grow by 7.1% in real terms, well above the global (2.4%), emerging (5.1%) and advanced (1.7%) market averages. At this rate, India will have the fastest growing insurance sector of the G20 countries,” said a research report by Swiss Re.

Life business premiums growth is expected to rise to 6.7 per cent in 2024‒28 from 4.1 per cent in 2023 supported by rising demand for term life cover by the middle-class and the country’s young population, and also increasing industry adoption of Insurtech. On the other hand, non-life premiums are forecasted to grow by an annual average of 8.3 per cent during the next five years from 7.7 per cent in 2023 driven by economic growth, improvement in distribution channels, government support and a favourable regulatory environment.

The reinsurer said that India suffered an average annual economic loss of $ 8 billion over the last decade 2013-2022 due to many natural catastrophes, including earthquakes, floods, tropical cyclones, drought and wildfires. However, its study showed that 93 per cent of the exposures are uninsured.