Page 17 - The Insurance Times October 2021

International News

General insurance indus- Health insurance is the largest seg- viding coverage against the hidden
ment in Saudi Arabia, accounting for defects after the construction has been
try in Saudi Arabia to
61% of total premiums in 2020. It is completed.
reach SAR46.4bn in 2025 forecasted to grow at a CAGR of 4.5% Ms. Anjuli concludes: “Insurers devel-

Saudi Arabia’s general insurance indus- during 2020-2025, driven by growing oping new products and expanding
try is projected to grow from consumer awareness during the pan- their offerings, combined with increas-
SAR37.5bn (US$10bn) in 2020 to demic. ing consumer awareness and digital
SAR46.4bn (US$12.3bn) in 2025 in Ms. Anjuli continues: “The transformation, will support the
terms of gross written premiums, ac- government’s plan to develop its growth of Saudi Arabia’s general insur-
cording to GlobalData. The leading healthcare insurance industry under its ance industry to 2025.”
data and analytics company notes that five-year ‘Digital Health Strategy 2018
the COVID-19 crisis has prompted in- plan’ includes the introduction of Climate change disrupts
surers to develop new products and telemedicine services, which will boost
expand their offerings. US natural hazard & fire
digitalization and support the industry’s
GlobalData has revised Saudi Arabia’s growth.” insurance market as pre-
general insurance forecast in the after- Motor insurance is the second largest miums no longer cover
math of the COVID-19 outbreak. As per segment, accounting for 22% of the
the latest data, the general insurance general insurance business in 2020. sums paid out
industry in Saudi Arabia is expected to The regularity of severe weather and
The segment is expected to recover in
grow at a compound annual growth 2021 and grow by 1.4% compared to fire events across the US last year led
rate (CAGR) of 4.4% over 2020-2025,
a 2.8% decline in 2020, driven by an to the US natural hazard & fire insur-
primarily due to economic recovery increase in automobiles sales. The seg- ance market paying out more in claims
after the negative impact of the pan-
ment is forecasted to grow at a CAGR than it received in premiums in 2020.
demic.
of 3.4% over 2020-2025. As wildfires continue to rage in Califor-
Anjuli Shrivastav, Insurance Analyst at nia and the recently published U.N.
Property Insurance accounted for 11%
GlobalData, comments: “The
and is forecasted to grow at a CAGR Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
government’s push for economic diver- Change (IPCC) report warning of 'code
sification under its Vision 2030 plan, of 4.9% over 2020-2025. Insurers are
launching innovative products to in- red for humanity' with increasingly
with an objective to reduce depen-
crease its sales. For instance, the con- extreme heatwaves, droughts and
dency on the oil sector and develop-
ment of the financial sector, which in- struction warranty insurance launched flooding becoming the norm over the
cludes insurance, is expected to ben- under the Saudi Vision 2030 plan aims next decade the current trend of in-
efit the industry over the forecast pe- to protect the interests of policyhold- creased pay outs is likely to continue
riod.” ers and real estate developers by pro- at an unsustainable level, says

The Insurance Times, October 2021 17