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Major markets

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Insurance plays a major role in the economy. The world insurance market in 2004 was worth USD3, 244 billion. The two segments of the industry are life and non-life insurance. Life insurance contributed 57% of the total global insurance market in terms of premium volume; non-life insurance contributed 43% of the total global insurance premium.

Among the regions, the largest contribution was from Europe. It contributed more than 36% of the global insurance premium market in 2004. At country level, the US was the single largest market with about 33.8% of the global insurance premium market share in 2004. Japan was the second largest insurance market,  with a market share of about 15.1% in 2004. The UK, which is the largest market in Europe and the third largest market globally, contributed to more than 9.1% of the total global insurance premiums in 2004.

In 2010, regionally the largest contribution was from Europe, which contributed more than 37.3% of the global insurance premium  (Figure 2.2) . At country level, the US was the single largest market with about 26.8% of the global insurance premium market share in 2010, down from 33.8% in 2004. Japan continued to be the second largest insurance premium market globally with a market share of about 12.85%. The UK, which is the largest market in Europe and the third largest market globally, contributed to 7.15% of the total global insurance premiums.

However, Asia experienced the highest growth rate in insurance premiums in 2010 at 7.2%, compared to 1.8% in Europe and 0.7% in North America in 2010.

In 2011, Europe's share in the global insurance premium volume was 1.3% below the 2010 level, due to the ongoing debt crisis. According to Swiss Re, North America’s share in the global market declined marginally by 0.6%, whereas Asia’s share in the global insurance market increased by 1.2%.

Major European Insurance Markets

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In Europe, the UK was the largest insurance market, accounting for 24.6% of the market in 2004. It was then followed by France and Germany. These three accounted for 56.3% of the market. Other major countries are Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland and Belgium (Figure 7.7) . Russia, even though the largest populated country in Europe, accounted for only 1.4% of the European market in 2004.

European macroeconomic indicators

In 2004, European countries had an average 7.89% penetration, out of which, 4.63% was in life and 3.17% in non-life. Insurance penetration in the UK is at 12.60% of GDP, out of which 8.92% was in life and 3.68% was in non-life. It is the highest in Europe, followed by Switzerland at 11.75%. The UK is also third in the world rankings (Table 7.4) .

Major markets in Western Europe in 2010 were the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, and Belgium. Poland, Russia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, and Slovakia are the major markets in Central and Eastern Europe.

In 2010, the UK had the largest share with 19.1% of total European insurance premium followed by France (17.3%) and Germany (14.8%). Other major countries are Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, Ireland, Russia, and Belgium (Figure 2.9) .