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European Insurance — Key Facts
September 2009
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CEA member associations
Austria (AT) — Versicherungsverband Österreich (VVO)
Belgium (BE) — Assuralia
Bulgaria (BG) — Association of Bulgarian Insurers (ABZ)Croatia (HR) — Hrvatski ured za osiguranje
Cyprus (CY) — Insurance Association of Cyprus
Czech Republic (CZ) — Česká asociace pojišt’oven (ČAP)
Denmark (DK) — Forsikring & Pension (F&P)
Estonia (EE) — Eesti Kindlustusseltside Liit
Finland (FI) — Finanssialan Keskusliitto
France (FR) — Fédération Française des Sociétés d’Assurances (FFSA)
Germany (DE) — Gesamtverband der Deutschen Versicherungswirtschaft (GDV)
Greece (GR) — Hellenic Association of Insurance Companies
Hungary (HU) — Magyar Biztosítók Szövetsége (MABISZ)
Iceland (IS) — Samtök Fjármálafyrirtækja (SFF)
Ireland (IE) — Irish Insurance Federation (IIF)
Italy (IT) — Associazione Nazionale fra le Imprese Assicuratrici (Ania)
Latvia (LV) — Latvijas Apdrošinātāju asociācija (LAA)
Liechtenstein (LI) — Liechtensteinischer VersicherungsverbandLithuania (LT) — Lietuvos draudikų asociacija
Luxembourg (LU) — Association des Compagnies d’Assurances (ACA)
Malta (MT) — Malta Insurance Association
Netherlands (NL) — Verbond van Verzekeraars
Norway (NO) — Finansnæringens Hovedorganisasjon (FNH)
Poland (PL) — Polska Izba Ubezpieczeń (PIU)
Portugal (PT) — Associação Portuguesa de Seguradores (APS)Romania (RO) — Uniunea Naţională a Societăţilor de Asigurare şi Reasigurare (Unsar)
Slovakia (SK) — Slovenská asociácia poist’ovní
Slovenia (SI) — Slovensko Zavarovalno Združenje (SZZ)
Spain (ES) — Unión Española de Entidades Aseguradoras y Reaseguradoras (Unespa)
Sweden (SE) — Sveriges Försäkringsförbund
Switzerland (CH) — Schweizerischer Versicherungsverband (ASA/SVV)
Turkey (TR) — Türkiye Sigorta ve Reasürans Şirketleri Birliği
United Kingdom (GB) — The British Insurers’ European Committee:Association of British Insurers (ABI)International Underwriting Association of London (IUA)Lloyd’s
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Contents
I. European insurance in the world 4
III. nsurance in the economy 5
Insurers’ investment portfolioIII. 6
PremiumsIV. 8
Lie insurance productsIV.1 10
Property and casualty insurance productsIV.2 11
V. Companies 12
Distribution channelsVI. 12
Lie insurance 1VI.1 3
Non-lie insurance 1VI.2 4
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This booklet provides key acts about the Europeaninsurance market and the contribution o Europeaninsurance to society and the economy. All fgures are the
latest available, with 2008 data being provisional.The fgures do not include the small mutual insuranceassociations under regional “Land” supervision inGermany, the 45 mutual insurers (“Mutuelles 45”) inFrance, the Belgian mutuals and the companies underregional supervision in Spain.
European insurance in the worldI.
With a 40% share o the global insurance market, theEuropean insurance industry is the largest in the world.
Distribution of insurance premiums — 2008
Europe41%
NorthAmerica
32%
LatinAmerica &
Caribbean2%
Asia22%
Oceania &Africa
3%
Source: Swiss Re, Sigma No.3/2009: “World insurance in 2008” NB: ”Europe” covers western, central and eastern Europe and therefore includesRussia and Ukraine (which together account for less than 1% of global premiums)
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Insurance in the economyII.
Insurance enables households and corporations to live andoperate in a stable environment.
Insurance not only acilitates economic transactions byproviding risk transer and indemnifcation, it can alsopromote fnancial stability, mobilise savings, enable risks tobe managed more efciently, encourage loss mitigation,and oster efcient capital allocation.
Lie insurers paid out more than €610bn in benefts to•
insureds in 2007, providing them with capital, annuities,pension revenue and protection against death.Non-lie insurers paid out more than €200bn in claims•
to insureds in 2007, o which €90bn was or motorinsurance claims.
Private health insurers provided around 12% o all•
current health expenditure in the European Union in2007.European insurers invested more than €6 800bn in the•
economy in 2008, or around 50% o the GDP o theEuropean Union.
The European insurance industry employs almost 1•
million people directly1.
1 There are also around 1 million outsourced employees and independent intermediaries
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Insurers’ investment portfolioIII.
As at 31 December 2008, the European insurance industryhad around €6 800bn invested in company shares, bonds
and other assets on behal o millions o savers and non-lie insurance customers.
European insurers’ investments — 1997–2008 (€bn)
0
1 000
2 000
3 000
4 000
5 000
6 000
7 000
8 000
1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
€
b n
Non-life insurers' portfolio Life insurers' portfolio
Total insurers' portfolio
NB: Accident and health business is included in non-life
The drop expected in investments in 2008 is or the mostpart explained by the economic turmoil that has aectedthe whole fnancial industry and thus the value o assets,although the strong depreciation o the pound sterlingagainst the euro has also played a role.
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The development o the total investment portolio is mainlydriven by lie business, since the investment holdings othe lie insurance industry account or more than 80%
o the total. The UK and France are the most signifcantmarket players as they jointly account or over 50% o allEuropean lie insurers’ investments.
The largest components o European insurers’ investmentportolios are debt securities and other fxed income assets(35%), ollowed closely by shares and other variable-yield
securities (33%). Loans represent 15% o the total.
European insurers’ investment portfolio — 2007
4% 5%
33%
35%
15%
3%
5%
Land and buildings
Investments in affiliated undertakings and participating interests
Shares and other variable-yield securities and units in unit trusts
Debt securities and other fixed-income securities
Loans, including loans guaranteed by mortgages
Deposits with credit institutions
Other
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PremiumsIV.
Total gross written premiums or the whole o the Europeanmarket have almost doubled over the last ten years and
amounted to €1 058bn in 2008. The total breaks downas ollows:
Lie 61%•
Property and casualty 27%•
Accident and health 12%•
However, this breakdown varies widely betweencountries.
In 2008, the average premium per capita amounted to€1 803 compared to €1 154 ten years earlier2. The 2008fgure breaks down as ollows:
Lie €1 095•
Property and casualty €496•
Accident and health €212•
In 2008, the premium to GDP ratio reached 7.7%, uprom 7% ten years earlier3. This ratio varies considerablyrom country to country, ranging rom 1.2% in Turkey to13.8% in the UK.
2 In nominal terms 3 This indicator measures insurance activity in terms of premium volume as a
share of GDP. It should be stressed that it does not indicate the contribution of the insurance industry to the economy but rather allows comparisons betweencountries and over time.
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European insurance premiums by country — 2008
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
CEA (€1058.2bn)
IS (€0.3bn)MT (€0.3bn)EE (€0.4bn)LV (€0.5bn)
LT (€0.6bn)CY (€0.7bn)BG (€0.9bn)HR (€1.3bn)LU (€1.9bn)SI (€2.0bn)
SK (€2.0bn)RO (€2.4bn)HU (€3.5bn)
LI (€3.8bn)GR (€4.8bn)CZ (€5.6bn)TR (€6.2bn)
NO (€12.8bn)IE (€13.3bn)
PT (€15.3bn)FI (€16.0bn)
AT (€16.2bn)PL (€16.9bn)
DK (€20.0bn)SE (€24.1bn)BE (€29.0bn)
CH (€33.2bn)ES (€58.6bn)NL (€76.2bn)IT (€92.0bn)
DE (€164.5bn)FR (€183.5bn)
UK (€249.2bn)
Life Property and casualty Accident and health
NB: For Greece, a large part of health business is included in life
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Life insurance productsIV.1
The main value o a lie insurance policy is that it is both“pure insurance” and a savings product. Lie insurance
policies can be purchased either by individuals or in theorm o group policies, mostly by employers.
In Europe, two thirds o individual premiums relate totraditional lie products, which oer capital and/or returnguarantees, while the remaining individual lie premiumincome stems rom unit-linked products, in which the riskis borne by the policyholder.
European life premiums by type of contract — 2007
22%
44%
34%
Unit-linkedindividual contracts
Traditional individualcontracts
Group contracts
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Property and casualty insurance productsIV.2
Property and casualty (P&C) insurance includes a widerange o cover or homes, cars and businesses.
With €130bn o premium income, motor insurance•
is the biggest class o property and casualty business,accounting or 44% o premiums.The second largest class is property, with a 28% share•
o the market.General liability and marine, aviation and transport•
(MAT) account respectively or 11% and 5% o propertyand casualty premiums.
European P&C premiums by product — 2008
44%
11%3%
28%
5%
9%
Motor
General liability
Legal expenses
Property
MAT
Other
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CompaniesV.
Around 5 200 insurance companies4 were operating inEurope in 2008. The majority were joint stock companies
and mutual insurance associations, but insurers can alsobe public institutions, cooperatives, etc.
The number o insurance companies has decreased overthe last ten years as a result o the wave o mergers andacquisitions that took place at the end o the 1990s
ollowing the liberalisation and deregulation o the marketin the EU.
Distribution channelsVI.
Insurers sell their products either directly or through avariety o distribution channels, o which the most amiliarare brokers, agents and bancassurance.
The distribution o insurance products has evolvedsignifcantly. Technological developments, such as theinternet and mobile phones have opened up new
distribution channels and insurers are increasinglydeveloping multi-channel strategies.
4 Not including the small regional German insurance associations, France’s “Mutuelles45”, Belgium’s “mutuelles” and Spain’s regionally supervised insurers
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Life insuranceVI.1
Bancassurance has developed over the last decade•
alongside lie insurance and is today the main distribution
channel in many western European countries.Agents and brokers also play an important role in the•
distribution o lie policies.Direct sales through employees or distance-selling are•
less developed in lie than in non-lie insurance.
Life insurance distribution channels (gross writtenpremiums) — 2007
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
I E H R
N L
P L
A T
B E
B G F
R T R
C E A I T L
T E S
U K
P T
D E
M
T
S
K S I
Direct writing Agents Brokers Bancassurance Other
NB: Data for Germany and Luxembourg refers to new business only
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Non-life insuranceVI.2
The distribution o non-lie policies in Europe relies mainlyon intermediaries (agents and to a lesser extent brokers)
and on direct sales by employees and distance-selling.
Non-life insurance distribution channels (grosswritten premiums) — 2007
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
H R
N L L
T I E A T
L U F
R B G E
S
C E A
U K P
L S I
B E
P T
T R
S K I T
D E
Direct writing Agents Brokers Bancassurance Other
NB: Data for Germany and Luxembourg refers to new business only
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“European Insurance – Key Facts” is available to download rom the CEAwebsite. Also available at www.cea.eu is the annual detailed statisticalpublication “European Insurance in Figures”.
© CEA aisblBrussels, September 2009Authors: Luc Stevens ([email protected]), Catherine Goislot ([email protected])Design: Morris & Chapman, Corentin PolletAll rights reserved.“European Insurance – Key Facts” is subject to copyright with all rightsreserved. Reproduction in part is permitted i the source reerence“European Insurance – Key Facts, CEA, September 2009” is indicated.
Courtesy copies are appreciated. Reproduction, distribution or sale o thispublication as a whole is prohibited without the prior authorisation o theCEA.Although all the inormation used in this publication was taken careullyrom reliable sources, the CEA does not accept any responsibility orthe accuracy or the comprehensiveness o the inormation given. Theinormation provided is or inormation purposes only and in no event
shall the CEA be liable or any loss or damage arising rom the use o thisinormation.
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CEA aisblSquare de Meeûs 29
B-1000 BrusselsBelgium
Tel: +32 2 547 58 11Fax: +32 2 547 58 19
www cea eu
CEAInsurers of Europe
About the CEA
The CEA is the European insurance and reinsurancefederation. Through its 33 member bodies – the national insurance associations – the CEA represents all types of insurance and reinsurance undertakings, eg pan-Europeancompanies, monoliners, mutuals and SMEs. The CEArepresents undertakings that account for approximately 94% of total European premium income.