Premium grows 9.5% in 2023 outpacing nominal global GDP

This was mainly driven by carriers pushing for rate adequacy after high inflation.

Premium growth of 9.5% in 2023 outpaced nominal global gross domestic product (GDP) as personal property and casualty (P&C) insurance represented about $1.1t in gross written premiums, according to McKinsey.

This was mainly driven by carriers pushing for rate adequacy after high inflation and accelerated loss trends between 2021 and 2023.

Despite this, its relevance has not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels as personal lines represented 1% of global GDP.

Auto and home insurance accounted for more than 93% of premium growth during the period as compared with 88% from 2019 to 2022, highlighting limited expansion into new risks.

By region, North America had the most growth expanding by 14% driven by rate increases. It also drove premium growth in developed Asia and Western Europe.

In emerging economies across Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa, market growth lagged behind GDP by five percentage points.

However, some markets experienced growth in relevance with premiums in Malaysia, South Africa, and Thailand outpacing GDP growth by more than two percentage points. Similarly, in Mexico and Chile, auto premiums grew faster than rates by more than 12 percentage points.

Finally, accidents and liabilities grew faster than auto and home in some regions, such as accidents in Latin America and liabilities in emerging Asia.