Poland's € 13 billion insurance sector set to grow in 2015

WARSAW, Poland - June 24, 2015 - PRLog -- With over € 13 billion in premium written and a 41 % share within CEE15 countries, Poland has the largest insurance sector in the region. Despite recently stagnating premiums, insurers operating in Poland are expected to take advantage from the ongoing economic recovery already in 2015. Premiums are expected to rebound and increase at 4 to 5% p.a. through 2017.

Poland's economy sustained solid growth in 2014 despite external headwinds. The annual GDP growth rate accelerated to 3.4% YoY from 1.7% a year earlier. Increasing consumer demand, new corporate investments and balanced foreign trade positively affected economic growth. The rebounding economy resulted in unemployment rate decreasing to 11.7% in March 2015 from 13.5% a year earlier. The consumer price index (CPI) fell into negative territory in mid-2014 and reached a record -1.5% YoY level in March 2015. Falling consumer prices boosted real income of consumers and improved confidence indicators, which increased to the highest levels in multiple years.

Despite favourable economic developments, the insurance sector has remained in stagnation during 2014 with life premium sinking by 8% YoY and non-life premium falling by a fraction. The recent downtrend in life insurance premium could be attributed to the withdrawal of single premium deposit-like products, which became less attractive due to lower interest rates and changing regulatory environment. Other types of saving/investment products, especially unit-linked insurance were unaffected and continued to grow in 2014, which reflected relatively stable financial condition of households and high propensity to save for retirement. Within the non-life business, car insurance suffered from falling premiums (-3% YoY) due to fierce competition among insurers while property, corporate and other insurance segments sustained growth.

Insurers operating in Poland are expected to take advantage from the ongoing economic recovery. The premium in non-life insurance segment is likely to rebound in 2015 as insurers will both increase sales of property insurance and slowly raise tariffs in car insurance.  Also the improving situation of enterprises is expected to drive demand for specialized insurance products in the corporate sector including credit and liability insurance. At the same time, a better economic situation and improved sentiment in households sector, resulting from lower unemployment and increasing real wages, will boost the demand for unit-linked and plain risk life insurance.

Inteliace Research expects the whole insurance sector to resume growth in 2015. Insurance premiums are expected to increase at an average rate of 4% and 5% in the non-life and life insurance business respectively during 2015–2017.

About the Report
“The Insurance Market in Poland 2015–2017” is the latest full update of Inteliace’s annual publication on the insurance sector in Poland. It describes the present market structure and recent trends in the market and provides short-term estimates of insurance premiums for the years 2015 through 2017.  For more information please refer to the original report under: http://www.inteliace.com/en/00137_Insurance_market_in_Pol...

About Inteliace Research
Inteliace Research is an independent consultancy that focuses on the financial markets in Central and Eastern Europe. Inteliace Research specializes in management consulting and custom research services, including market entry strategies, product launches, and performance and benchmarking analyses.

During 2005–2015, Inteliace Research provided its products and services to more than 60 clients, including major CEE banks and insurers. To learn more about the company, visit Inteliace Research’s webpage: www.inteliace.com .

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