Singapore's general insurance market rises 15% to $7.04b in 2022

The strong uptake in the domestic market contributed to the growth.

Singapore’s general insurance industry recorded a 15% growth year-over-year in 2022 (YoY) from its offshore and domestic segments to S$9.34b (US$ 7.04b), data from the General Insurance Association of Singapore (GIA) stated.

The domestic segment’s gross written premiums increased by 9.6% to S$4.84b (US$3.65b), whilst its underwriting profit rose 14.8% to S$301.6m (US$227.5m).

The strong uptake in the domestic market’s health, property, and travel segments after the easing of global travel borders contributed to significant growth.

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GIA president, Ronak Shah, stated that the general insurance sector’s growth last year reinforced Singapore’s position as the leading insurance hub in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region.

Meanwhile, the health insurance segment’s gross written premiums grew 19% to S$888m (US$669.8m), and its underwriting profit rose to S$69.6m (US$52.5m). The property insurance segment saw a 6% increase in gross written premiums to S$758.3m (US$572m).

However, the motor insurance segment recorded a 7.1% drop in gross written premiums to S$1.1b (US$829.7m) and an underwriting loss of S$21.6m (US$16.3m).

GIA pointed out the reason behind the loss to rising accident rates trending up to pre-pandemic levels, an increase in average claim bill sizes, the COE impact on new car sales, and inflationary pressures on repair costs.