Property/casualty insurance premiums up 2.8% in 2017: Swiss Re

Global property/casualty premiums increased by 2.8% to $2.2 billion in 2017, down from a rate increase of 3.3% in 2016 and just above the 10-year average of 2.1%, Swiss Re Ltd. said Thursday in a report. The Swiss Re Institute’s recent sigma report, World Insurance in 2017, said the results are largely due to lower growth in emerging markets, particularly in China. Property/casualty premiums increased by 1.9% in advanced markets in 2017, up slightly from 1.7% from 2016 and well above the 10-year average of 0.9%. China and North America were the biggest contributors to global property/casualty premium growth, each contributing 1% each, followed by Western Europe at 0.3%. U.S. property/casualty premium growth was roughly stable at 2.6%, where the industry was bolstered by higher auto rates.