Hong Kong IA reports decrease in total premiums despite growth in reinsurance in 2023

Published on March 8, 2024

The Insurance Authority (IA) has reported an increase in Hong Kong’s reinsurance gross premiums by 3.1% and net premiums by 0.2% for 2023, however, total gross premiums decreased by 1.1% compared to 2022, totalling $549.7 billion.

Reinsurance gross premiums reached $18.1 billion in the year, primarily driven by the Property Damage and Accident & Health sectors. However, this growth was partly offset by declines in the General Liability and Pecuniary Loss sectors. Net premiums rose to $8.9 billion.

The net claims incurred ratio saw a significant rise from 44.6% to 55.8%, leading to a substantial decline of 61.7% in the overall underwriting profit, which fell to $0.7 billion.

In contrast, the long-term insurance business experienced a 1.8% decrease in total revenue premiums, amounting to $482.4 billion.

Most of the revenue came from Individual Life and Annuity (Non-Linked) business, which amounted to $423.4 billion, up by 2.6% compared to 2022.

However, the overall decrease in 2023 is attributed to the Retirement Scheme business, which declined by 34.3% to $29.3 billion, and the Individual Life and Annuity (Linked) business, which decreased by 16.8% to $23.6 billion.

Conversely, the general business sector observed growth in total gross and net premiums in 2023. Gross premiums surged by 4.1%, totaling $67.3 billion, while net premiums grew by 2.7%, reaching $43.3 billion.

However, the total gross claims increased by 6.8%, with $32.1 billion paid. This resulted in a notable decrease in the overall underwriting profit, which dropped from $4.2 billion to $0.8 billion.

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