SL insurance market to grow 10% per annum over next decade: Allianz

Global giant Allianz says Sri Lanka is set to quickly recover lost ground in insurance market due to COVID-19, clocking growth of 10% per annum over the next decade.

“Sri Lanka’s insurance market already hit a ‘soft patch’ in 2019: premiums grew by ‘only’ 7.8% (Life: 9.9%, P&C: 5.8%), the weakest growth in five years, after showing double-digit growth in all the four previous years,” Allianz said its latest Global Insurance Report released last week.

It said 2020 will be even more challenging, although Sri Lanka should be one of the few markets in the region to avoid contraction, albeit by a hair’s breadth. Premiums are expected to grow by a meagre 1.7%, dragged down by a decline in the P&C segment, Allianz added.

The slump, it said, however, will be followed by a swift recovery in 2021, with the market expected to grow by more than 10%; over the decade up to 2030, Sri Lanka is expected to clock growth of 10% p.a. as Sri Lanka’s insurance market is still one of the least developed in the region: Premiums per capita stood at 42 euros in 2019 (regional average: 255 euros), penetration at 1.2%, against the regional average of 4.7%.