The European insurance sector is demonstrating resilience to the economic crisis, according to figures released today by the CEA, the European insurance and reinsurance federation.
The provisional figures for 2008 indicate that total written premiums in Europe declined in nominal terms and at constant exchange rates by 6% to just under €1 060bn, but that European non-life premiums grew 2%. Non-life premiums have generally been little affected by the economic downturn except for a small number of lines of business, such as credit insurance, that have strong links to economic activity.
The shrinkage of the total written premium in Europe is mainly due to the life sector, which accounts for more than 60% of all European premiums. Provisional figures show that total life premiums recorded a drop of 11% in nominal terms and at constant exchange rates in 2008, amounting to €644bn compared with €766bn in 2007. This decline follows a growth in premiums of more than 6% a year since 2002.
As the insurance industry is one of Europe’s largest institutional investors, the fall in stock markets and the rise in spreads put insurers’ investment portfolios under pressure in 2008. The total value of European insurers’ investment portfolios, estimated at market value, declined from over €7 200bn in 2007 to around €6 900bn in 2008. This corresponds to a decrease of about 1%, compared to an increase of 4% in 2007. This is the first time in the last decade that the year-on-year growth rate has been negative.
The number of insurance companies in Europe rose for the first time in a decade from 5 124 in 2007 to more than 5 170 in 2008. The number of people employed in the European insurance industry also grew slightly by 0.5% in 2007 to just under 1 million.
© CEA - Comité Européen des Assurances
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