Hong Kong IA reports decrease in total premiums despite growth in reinsurance in 2023

The Insurance Authority (IA) has reported an increase in Hong Kong’s reinsurance gross premiums by 3.1% and net premiums by 0.2% for 2023, however, total gross premiums decreased by 1.1% compared to 2022, totalling $549.7 billion.

Reinsurance gross premiums reached $18.1 billion in the year, primarily driven by the Property Damage and Accident & Health sectors. However, this growth was partly offset by declines in the General Liability and Pecuniary Loss sectors. Net premiums rose to $8.9 billion.

The net claims incurred ratio saw a significant rise from 44.6% to 55.8%, leading to a substantial decline of 61.7% in the overall underwriting profit, which fell to $0.7 billion.

In contrast, the long-term insurance business experienced a 1.8% decrease in total revenue premiums, amounting to $482.4 billion.

Most of the revenue came from Individual Life and Annuity (Non-Linked) business, which amounted to $423.4 billion, up by 2.6% compared to 2022.

However, the overall decrease in 2023 is attributed to the Retirement Scheme business, which declined by 34.3% to $29.3 billion, and the Individual Life and Annuity (Linked) business, which decreased by 16.8% to $23.6 billion.

Conversely, the general business sector observed growth in total gross and net premiums in 2023. Gross premiums surged by 4.1%, totaling $67.3 billion, while net premiums grew by 2.7%, reaching $43.3 billion.

However, the total gross claims increased by 6.8%, with $32.1 billion paid. This resulted in a notable decrease in the overall underwriting profit, which dropped from $4.2 billion to $0.8 billion.