Total gross premiums written across the Hong Kong insurance industry in the first nine months of 2019 grew by 12.5% when compared with the same period in 2018, to $436.9 billion, according to the region’s Insurance Authority (IA).
Provisional statistics of the Hong Kong insurance industry released by the IA shows that total revenue premiums of long term in-force business reached $392.5 billion in the first nine months of 2019, which is growth of 12.9% on the same period in 2018.
Data reveals that revenue premiums of individual life and annuity (non-linked) business grew by more than 19% to $341.7 billion, while those of individual life and annuity (linked) business declined by more than 20% to $20.5 billion. At the same time, contributions of retirement scheme business totalled $25.7 billion in the period, which is down 18.5% on the same period in 2018.
Overall, gross and net premiums of general insurance business during the nine-month period totalled $44.4 billion and $30.3 billion, respectively. In total, underwriting performance improved dramatically year-on-year, reaching $856 million in 2019, which is up by almost 884% on the same period in 2018.
The IA states that this is mostly a result of Property Damage business, adding that the recent social events in the region are likely to drive a negative outlook moving forward.
On direct business, and the IA reveals that gross and net premiums both increased year-on-year to $33.9 billion and $23.9 billion, respectively. This was driven by growth in both Accident and Health business and General Liability lines of business.
Overall, direct business generated an underwriting profit of $736 million, which is up by a huge 160.7% on the same period in 2018. The IA states that this result benefitted from favourable claims experience in Property Damage business, Ships business, and Pecuniary Loss business. According to the IA, Property Damage business recovered from a $86 million loss in the first three quarters of 2018 as a result of the impact of Typhoon Mangkhut, to record a profit of $200 million for the first nine months of 2019.
Discussing inwards reinsurance business, and the IA explains that gross and net premiums totalled $10.5 billion and $6.4 billion, respectively. The underwriting performance also improved here and reached a profit of $120 million in 2019 versus a loss of $195 million a year earlier.
