UAE, Saudi Arabia lead Arab world with $32 billion in gross written premiums

ABU DHABI: The gross premiums written by Arab insurance companies rose to about US$50.8 billion at the end of 2023, compared to about US$46.5 billion at the end of 2022, a growth of 9.2 percent, according to the latest statistics of the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF). The Fund stated that the global gross written premiums reached about US$6.78 trillion at the end of 2022, indicating that the sector, at the Arab level, still needs to expand, reflecting the available opportunities for growth, as the average written premiums do not exceed about 1.6 percent of the GDP of the Arab countries. The Fund noted that insurance companies in Saudi Arabia and the UAE ranked first in terms of gross written premiums, with more than US$32 billion, amounting to about US$17.45 billion in Saudi Arabia and US$14.71 billion in the UAE by the end of 2023. According to the AMF, total life insurance premiums accounted for 18.8 percent of the total premiums written by the Arab insurance sector in 2023, while total non-life general insura nce premiums accounted for 81.2 percent. AMF highlighted that the average compensation paid relative to written premiums amounted to approximately 54.6 percent by the end of 2023, while the average return on assets stood at 2.2 percent at the close of the year. This improved operational efficiency among insurers is attributed to a decline in the ratio of total compensation paid to gross written premiums, and good profitability in most Arab countries. Source: Emirates News Agency