The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) is solidifying its position as the premier gateway for the Asia-Middle East-Africa reinsurance corridor, backed by rapid premium growth, according to Ms Gracita Aoa-De Gracia, Head of Insurance and Reinsurance at the DIFC Authority.
Speaking at a breakfast roundtable hosted by the DIFC Authority, “For this year, estimates are that growth would be 20%, based on the numbers that we have seen during the first half of the year,” she added, despite the region’s geopolitical situation. This would continue the growth of 20% reported for 2025.
She highlighted that the DIFC presented strategic opportunities for Asian insurance players looking to diversify and expand. They can tap opportunities with confidence because of the platform provided by the DIFC, as offered by its regulatory system and robust reinsurance hub status located between London and Singapore.
She pointed out that many business groups from Japan, South Korea, and other parts of Asia have interests in the Middle East, and they prefer to deal with insurance groups that they trust. Those business groups are served by insurance entities in the DIFC.
The roundtable, supported by Callidus Consulting (DIFC) and Asia Insurance Review, which is a sister publication of Middle East Insurance Review, focussed on the theme “Strengthening the Asia–Middle East–Africa re/insurance corridor.”
Exponential growth trajectory
The DIFC’s strategic positioning is underlined by record performance metrics. Gross written premiums (GWP) generated by (re)insurance entities within the DIFC reached $4.2bn in 2025, with managing general agents (MGAs) contributing $2.9bn and insurance carriers and captives generating the remaining $1.3bn.
Highlighting the DIFC's global reach, Ms Aoa-De Gracia noted that $600m of the MGA-generated premiums originated from outside the Middle East, Africa and Asia regions.
The DIFC's momentum has accelerated sharply in recent years: the hub took 10 years to hit its first $1bn in GWP because the pace of growth was affected by the 2008 global financial crisis. It then took eight years to reach the second billion but just three years to double GWP to $4bn.
Following a 20% GWP expansion in 2025, the DIFC Authority projects a 20% growth for the current year based on preliminary first-half performance data, demonstrating resilience despite geopolitical headwinds in the region.
The DIFC now hosts over 70 MGAs and more than 70 reinsurance brokers, alongside a Lloyd’s platform, third-party administrators (TPAs), (re)insurers, captives and other insurance-related entities, said Ms Aoa-De Gracia.
This growing concentration of expertise has enabled the hub to manage specialised sovereign risk programmes, including Morocco’s national flood scheme and Oman’s flood programme.