Turkiye overtook Saudi Arabia as the biggest market among 13 markets in the Middle East and North Africa, according to data published by Swiss Re Institute (SRI).
In its report titled “World insurance: Strengthening global resilience with a new lease of life”, SRI shows that the Turkish insurance sector was the largest among 13 MENA markets. Saudi Arabia fell to second place. Globally, though, Turkiye was the 33rd biggest insurance market.
The Turkish insurance industry grew by 35.6% in real terms in 2023 to $19.2bn. This was the fastest growth rate among the 13 markets in the region listed in the table below.
Volume of premiums
|
Global
Ranking
|
Market
|
Premium volume
$ m
|
Changes (%) in 2023
|
Share of world market 2023 (%)
|
|
Nominal ($)
|
Inflation-adjusted
|
|
2023
|
2022
|
2023
|
2022
|
|
33
|
36
|
Turkiye
|
19,216
|
13,172
|
45.9
|
35.6
|
0.3
|
|
36
|
35
|
Saudi Arabia
|
17,456
|
14,228
|
22.7
|
19.9
|
0.2
|
|
37
|
38
|
UAE
|
14,568
|
12,938
|
12.6
|
9.0
|
0.2
|
|
48
|
46
|
Morocco
|
5,519
|
5,364
|
2.9
|
-3.3
|
0.1
|
|
51
|
50
|
Egypt
|
2,550
|
3,321
|
-23.2
|
-3.5
|
0.0
|
|
67
|
68
|
Qatar
|
2,231
|
1,921
|
16.1
|
12.7
|
0.0
|
|
69
|
71
|
Kuwait
|
1,674
|
1,608
|
4.1
|
0.7
|
0.0
|
|
76
|
77
|
Oman
|
1,468
|
1,408
|
4.3
|
3.3
|
0.0
|
|
78
|
80
|
Algeria
|
1,190
|
1,105
|
7.7
|
-5.7
|
0.0
|
|
83
|
81
|
Tunisia
|
1,164
|
1,006
|
15.7
|
5.9
|
0.0
|
|
84
|
85
|
Jordan
|
1,049
|
994
|
5.6
|
3.4
|
0.0
|
|
88
|
88
|
Bahrain
|
770
|
743
|
3.6
|
3.6
|
0.0
|
|
72
|
59
|
Lebanon
|
259
|
1,644
|
-84.2
|
-64.8
|
0.0
|
|
|
World
|
7,186,174
|
6,772,753
|
0.3
|
-1.1
|
100.0
|
|
Source: Swiss Re Institute - “World insurance: Strengthening global resilience with a new lease of life” sigma report
|
The report shows that the 13 markets in MENA produced a mixed performance in 2023.
In contrast to Turkiye and Saudi Arabia, several small markets, such as Egypt and Algeria, saw a decline in premium income in real terms. One reason for this is the depreciation of their currency against the US dollar with purchasing power weakened as a result.
The SRI data indicate too that Lebanon’s insurance market was the worst-performing in the region as the industry continued to shrink. Its global ranking plunged to 72nd in 2023 from 59th position in 2022. The premium volume in the Lebanese market plummeted from $1.64bn in 2022 to $259m in 2023. For perspective, the market generated a premium volume of $2bn in 2022. Lebanon has been coping with a financial crisis since at least 2019. The crisis has been aggravated by a series of untoward events including the COVID-19 pandemic, the August 2020 Beirut port explosion, Russia’s war against Ukraine since February 2022, and the ongoing Gaza-Israeli conflict.