Carriers’ expansion in Asia helped push global insurance premiums past the $5 trillion mark for the first time in 2018, Swiss Re said in its latest sigma report.

That growth came generally from property/casualty insurance expansion in China and other emerging Asian markets, the reinsurer noted. Having reached the $5 trillion market, global premiums have enhanced their already considerable place in the global economy, Swiss Re said.

“Global direct premiums written were equivalent to more than 6 percent of world GDP in 2018, underlining the very significant role insurance plays in supporting sustainable development and global resilience,” Jérôme Jean Haegeli, Group Chief Economist at Swiss Re, said in prepared remarks. “With $5 trillion of premiums written globally per year, the role of the insurance industry as a long-term investor is becoming ever more important.”

Among the report’s findings and predictions:

China will contribute the most to life and P/C premium growth over the next two years, with its share of global premiums expected to reach 20 percent by 2019. That’s up from 11 percent right now.

China produced #575 billion in total premiums written in 2018, strengthening its position as the second-largest global insurance market. While the Chinese market is still less then 40 percent of the U.S. market ($469 billion) it is expected to produce 42 percent of global premiums by 2029.

P/C and life insurance premiums will grow approximately 3 percent from 2019 through 2010, thanks to emerging markets and also solid growth in advanced P/C markets.

P/C insurance premiums in advanced markets will grow by 1.8 percent this year, a reduction from 2018 but above the historic average of 1.1 percent.

Source: Swiss Re