Worldwide insurance premium volume up 1.4% in 2013: Swiss Re

Worldwide insurance premium volume increased by 1.4% in 2013 to $4.641 trillion, according to a study published Wednesday by Swiss Re Ltd.

In the United States, overall premium volume fell by 2.5% in 2013 compared with 2012 to $1,259 billion, according to the Swiss Re sigma study, “World Insurance in 2013: Steering Towards Recovery.”

U.S. nonlife premium volume in 2013 was up by 1.7% compared with 2012 to $726 billion, according to the report.

Life insurance premium volume in the United States fell by 7.7% in 2013 compared with 2012 to $533 billion, in large part because of the nonrecurrence of several large corporate deals that boosted group annuity business in 2012, according to the study.

Premium volume in emerging markets showed strong growth in 2013, according to the study.

Overall, insurance premium volume in 2013 in emerging markets increased by 7.4% compared with 2012 to $788 billion, the study showed.

Nonlife premium volume in emerging markets last year increased by 8.3% to $380 billion, it showed.

“The sector’s slowdown in the United States was out of sync with the economic recovery there,” said Kurt Karl, chief economist at Swiss Re, in a statement.

“Yes, the economy slowed slightly, but last year’s employment and housing market numbers were positive,” he said.

“Even stripping out the effect of those large corporate deals in 2012, U.S. life premiums would still have been down 1.6%,” he added.

The report is available here.