European Insurance — Key Facts Insurance Market in 2014 vs. 2015.

European insurers generate premium income of €1 200bn, directly employ over 975 000 people and invest nearly €9 800bn in the economy.

With a 32% share of the global market, the European insurance industry is the largest in the world, followed by North America (31%) and Asia (30%).

Total European direct gross written premiums increased by 1.3% between 2014 and 2015 to reach €1 200bn. Life premiums grew 1.2% to €730bn, non-life premiums grew by 1.1% to €343bn and

health premiums grew 1.5% to €124bn. In 2015, insurance penetration (gross written premiums as a percentage of GDP) decreased by 0.2 percentage points to 7.4%, but ranged from

0.9% in Latvia to 11.4% in Finland. An average of €2 010 per capita was spent on insurance in Europe in 2015, compared to €1 993 in 2014. Of the per capita spent in 2015, €1 223 was on life insurance,

€574 on non-life and €207 on health.

European insurers paid out €976bn in claims and benefits to insureds, a 2.0% increase on 2014.

Life insurance

Life insurance policies can take the form of individual or group contracts, and they can be “pure insurance” products, savings products or a combination of both. In total, European life insurance

premiums rose to €730bn in 2015, a 1.2% increase on 2014.

Non-life insurance

Non-life insurance, whose two main business lines are motor and property, includes a wide range of cover for individuals, property, vehicles and businesses. Non-life premiums grew by 1.1% in 2015 to total €343bn. Motor was the largest non-life business line in 2015, accounting for 38% of premiums.

Motor premiums grew 1.0% in 2015 to €132bn. The property market grew 1.6% to €93bn, accounting for 27% of 2015 non-life premiums. Meanwhile accident premiums increased by 1.2% to €34.2bn and general liability premiums remained stable at €33.8bn.

Source: Insurance Europe. European Insurance — Key Facts