The global premium pool is forecast to grow by EUR5,319bn ($6,222bn) over the next 10 years in absolute terms, according to the ‘Allianz Global Insurance Report 2025: Rising demand for protection’ published by Allianz Research. Much of this growth—EUR2,055bn—will be in the life segment.
Overall, Allianz Research expects the P&C segment to grow by +4.5% per year until 2035. The segment will post solid growth rates in almost all markets as the need for more protection is a global phenomenon.
It also remains constructive on life insurance, which should grow at a CAGR of +5.0% over the next decade, benefiting from higher interest rates. This should boost demand in developed markets such as Western and North America.
However, Asia and China will remain the growth engines for the global life business as pension systems continue to be developed against the backdrop of accelerating demographic change. The smallest segment, health, is expected to remain the most dynamic at +6.7% p.a. There is still a lot of pent-up demand, especially in Asia.
More than half of the additional premium pool will be generated in Asia (including China, EUR1,071bn), more than in North America (EUR416bn) and Europe (EUR351bn) combined. In P&C, around 40% of the additional premium of EUR1,522bn will come from North America. In health, Allianz Research expects additional premiums of EUR1,743bn, the majority of which will come from the US market.
2024 performance
The global insurance industry grew by an estimated +8.6% in 2024, surpassing the previous year’s record growth of +8.2% and adding a massive EUR557bn ($652bn) to the global premium pool. In total, insurers worldwide collected EUR7.0trn in life, P&C and health insurance premiums.
Insurance penetration rose from 7.1% in 2022 to 7.4% in 2024. However, this is roughly the same level as 10 years ago. While health insurance has increased its relevance over the past decade and P&C has managed to defend its turf, life insurance has fallen quite sharply and is still recovering from the period of ultra-low interest rates.
The global P&C segment grew by +7.7% last year, slightly less than the previous year (+8.3%). More remarkably, growth was mainly driven by the largest market, North America, where premium income increased by +8.2%. While premium income in Western Europe increased by +6.0%, the Asian P&C market was less dynamic, growing by only +4.0%. As a result, it is still smaller than its Western European counterpart, even though more than six times as many people live in this region as in Western Europe.
The life segment grew by +10.4% in 2024, faster than the other two segments and faster than in 2023 (+8.2%). The main driver was once again North America, which grew by an astonishing 14.4%: As interest rates reached new highs, many US households rushed to lock in these rates for their annuities.
Higher interest rates also lifted premium income in Western Europe (+7.1%). In Asia most markets posted strong gains, led by China with a growth rate of +15.4%. M