Executive Summary
According to the Allianz Global Insurance Report 2025, the global insurance industry is estimated to have grown by +8.6% in 2024. This again exceeded the exceptional +8.2% growth recorded in the previous year. Insurance companies worldwide experienced an increase in premiums of EUR 557 billion, bringing total premium income to EUR 7.0 trillion. Life insurance remained the largest segment with premium income of EUR 2,902 billion, followed by P&C insurance (EUR 2,424 billion) and health insurance (EUR 1,682 billion).
Growth in P&C insurance was +7.7% last year, slightly lower than in the previous year (+8.3%). It is worth noting that growth was mainly driven by the largest market, North America, where premium income increased by +8.2%. More than half of the world's premiums are written in this region. While premium income in Western Europe increased by +6.0%, the Asian market was less dynamic, growing by only +4.0%. It is therefore still smaller than its Western European counterpart.
Life insurance grew by +10.4% in 2024, outperforming the other two segments and also growing faster than in 2023 (+8.2%). The main driver was once again North America, which grew by an astonishing 14.4%. With interest rates reaching new highs, there was a run on annuities. Higher interest rates also led to an increase in premium income in Western Europe (+7.1%). In Asia, most markets showed strong growth, led by China with a growth rate of +15.4%. In contrast to the US dominance in P&C insurance, global market shares in life insurance are relatively evenly distributed. Asia (including Japan and China) leads with more than a third of premiums.
Health insurance grew by +7.0%. Demand remained very strong, particularly in Asia (+12.6%). This reflects the still low insurance penetration (premiums in % of economic output) in the region, which is below 1% in all markets except Taiwan. Even more than in life insurance, demand is driven by the state of the social security system, i.e. the level and quality of public healthcare.
Geopolitical uncertainties and trade tensions may weigh on insurance volumes through weaker economic growth, trade slowing down and higher credit and market risks. On the other hand, a protection effect could also be visible as companies demand more risk management solutions in this uncertain and crisis-ridden environment. In the longer term, financial fragmentation and weakening international cooperation including on climate, cyber or pandemic preparedness could increase the cost of insuring these risks.
Outlook: Rising demand for protection
According to the report, the outlook for Europe is more optimistic this year, especially for the P&C business. There are two reasons for this: First, the expected boom in defense and infrastructure investment should also have a positive impact on the insurance business. Second, a further increase in natural catastrophes will lead to higher premiums. With an insurance penetration rate of 2.5%, European households and businesses currently spend relatively little on insurance cover in this area, compared with 4.4% in the US. This will (have to) change in the coming years. We therefore expect annual premium growth in European P&C insurance to be +4.2%, an increase of 0.6 percentage points compared with our previous forecast. For the US and Asia, however, we have slightly lowered our forecasts for the P&C business.
Overall, the global insurance market is expected to grow at an annual rate of +5.3% over the next ten years, slightly above economic output. For Germany, overall growth is expected to be +4.5% (nominal GDP: 3.0%). For P&C, we expect annual growth of +4.5% up to 2035. The segment will show solid growth rates in almost all markets, as the increasing need for protection is a global phenomenon. Allianz Research also remains confident about life insurance, which can expect annual growth of +5.0% thanks to higher interest rates. Asia and China remain the growth engines, driven by the need for private provision in the face of accelerating demographic change. The smallest segment, health insurance, should remain the most dynamic, with annual growth of +6.7%. Asia in particular still has a lot of catching up to do.
In absolute terms, the global premium pool will grow by EUR 5,319 billion over the next ten years. Most of this growth will come from life insurance (EUR 2,055 billion). More than half of this additional premium pool will be generated in Asia and China (EUR 1,071 billion), more than in North America (EUR 416 billion) and Western Europe (EUR 351 billion) combined. In P&C insurance, around 40% of the additional premiums of EUR 1,522 billion will come from North America. In health insurance, we expect additional premiums of EUR 1,743 billion, most of which will come from the US market.
Insurance remains a growth industry. However, this growth is largely fueled by policy inaction: underinvestment in adaptation is leading to increasing climate damage, while delayed pension reforms are requiring higher savings efforts from individuals. In the long term, however, the private insurance industry cannot shoulder the burden of acting as society's "repair shop". Only by working together will we be able to meet the major challenges of the "twin transformation".