The domestic insurance market recorded, in the first half of 2016, a total of gross premiums written (GPW) of RON 5 billion (the value includes the activity of insurance companies in the country and abroad and that of branches), increasing by 11 percent compared to the same period of the previous year, Financial Supervisory Authority (ASF) data show.
Both insurance segments, general insurance (GI) and life insurance (LI) increased in the first half of 2016, by approximately 11 percent and, respectively, 10 percent, compared to the similar interval of 2015.
The value of gross premiums written in the first six months of the year by insurance companies and branches, only on Romania’s territory, was RON 4.92 billion, up 13 percent compared to the first half of the previous year (RON 4.34 billion). Gross premiums written on the territory of other states recorded a decline by 51 percent, in the first half of 2016 (RON 0.08 billion), compared to the same period of 2015 (RON 0.17 billion).
According to the same ASF data, auto insurance, class A3 (insurance of land vehicles other than railway) and class A10 (motor vehicle liability insurance) accounted for 75 percent of total gross premiums written in H1 of this year, related to the general insurance category and 60 percent of total gross premiums written at market level.
The underwritings for the two classes of general insurance increased in 2016, particularly for class A10, which registered an advance of about 29 percent over the same period last year.
Unlike the European insurance market, which is dominated by the life insurance segment (about 61 percent according to Insurance Europe data), in Romania it accounts for only 17 percent of gross premiums written, the market being dominated by general insurance or auto insurance.
The companies with the largest volumes of gross premiums written are Asirom (14.16 percent market share), Allianz-Țiriac Asigurari (12.75 percent market share), Omniasig (9.76 percent market share), Carpatica Asig (9.68 percent market share), Groupama (9.43 percent market share).