Insurance sector continues growth

Manama : The insurance market in the Kingdom continued to enjoy positive growth in the year 2016, driven mainly by the general insurance (including Medical insurance) segment, which contributed 81 per cent to the gross premiums. 

The increase, according to the Central Bank of Bahrain, was mainly due to a surge in the Medical insurance sector, which witnessed a growth of almost 19pc in gross premiums/contributions to register BD62.11 million (US$164.75m) in 2016 compared to BD52.20m (US$138.50m) in 2015. This represents almost 23pc of the total premiums/ contributions written in the market
in 2016. 

“Due to the well established regulatory regime, a number of leading international insurance companies established their insurance and reinsurance operations in Bahrain both in Conventional and Takaful, which has further consolidated Bahrain’s profile as a financial centre.  The increase of insurance ancillary services in Bahrain provides an important source of synergy to these international companies,” said Fouad A.Wahid Abdulla - Director, Insurance Supervision Directorate, at the CBB.

 “The CBB continues to further enhance its regulatory framework to be in line with the best international financial standards and boost the confidence of the insurance licensees and general public,” added Wahid Abdulla.

In other segments, Engineering insurance grew 7pc, while Long-term (life and savings products) insurance contributed 19pc to the total gross premiums by generating BD51.62m (US$136.92m) in 2016. 

Total gross premiums in Motor insurance increased 4pc to BD78.88m (US$209.23m) in 2016 from BD76.16m in 2015. This accounts for around 29pc of the total premiums/contributions written
in 2016. 

Fire, Property & Liability represented 15pc of the total premiums/contributions, which totalled BD40.31m (US$106.92m) in 2016 compared to BD47.32m (US$125.52m) in 2015.

Takaful Firms recorded total gross contributions of BD60.43m in 2016, representing around 22pc of the total gross premiums/contributions in 2016.

Gross premiums/contributions generated in the domestic market amounted to BD272.04m (US$721.60m) in 2016 compared to BD272.81m (US$723.63m) in 2015.