Africa:Nearly 100 (re)insurers have failed since 2000 on the continent

At least 20 (re)insurers have failed somewhere in the world in every single year between 2000 and 2024, according to the third edition of the "Global Failed Insurer Catalogue" published by Property and Casualty Insurance Compensation Corporation (PACICC).

The cumulative total from 2000 to 2024 was 965 failed (re)insurers, which were in 71 different countries. They comprised 13 reinsurers and 952 direct insurers.

Over the past 25 years, the highest number of failed insurers in any one year was 87 in 2000 while the smallest number was 20 in 2024.

In comparison, in 2023, PACICC published its first edition of the “Global Failed Insurer Catalogue,” identifying 547 failed (re)insurers in 55 countries from 2000 to 2022. The 2024 Catalogue shows that 568 (re)insurers in 57 countries failed from 2000 to 2023.

Among the 965 failed (re)insurers, 96 were in Africa. The number of failures on the continent by country is as follows:

The US reported, by far, the most insurance company failures – totalling 503, or 52.1% of all failures within the Catalogue. There are 10 times more insurance failures in the US than in any other country.

Only involuntary exits included

To establish a common basis for inclusion in or exclusion from the database, PACICC included only the companies that left the insurance marketplace due to a binding regulatory decision – meaning that the exit was not voluntary.

In the 2025 Catalogue, PACICC said, "While there are almost certainly still some errors of omission and inclusion in this updated version, we feel increasingly confident that the Catalogue represents an accurate listing of failures around the world." PACICC also said, "We continue to believe that the actual number of failed insurers is likely greater than that presented in this Catalogue."