Emerging markets to lead 21st century insurance

Emerging markets such as China and India will be at the frontier of insurance in the 21st century, according to a study.

The latest Swiss Re sigma report said general insurance premiums collected in emerging markets are expected to double from $123bn (£69bn) in 2003 to $250bn by 2014, at constant prices. Life premiums will increase even faster, from $188bn to $450bn, over the same period.

Clarence Wong, head of economic research and consulting Asia, said: "Impressive growth prospects for emerging markets are putting them at the frontier of insurance. Among the emerging markets, China and India are very much in the spotlight, on account of their huge populations, growing economic importance and rapidly liberalising regulatory regimes."

According to Swiss Re, over the past 10 years, life and general insurance premiums in emerging markets have risen annually by 10.4% and 7.3%, respectively, compared with an average 3.4% and 2.6% for industrialised nations.

The sigma study compares more than 30 markets in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Middle East, and shows that the top-10 countries account for 87% of life and 66% of general insurance premiums from emerging markets. In fact, some emerging markets already rank among the biggest insurance markets in the world. For example, South Korea and China are the 7th and 8th largest life insurance markets worldwide, respectively.