STATISTICS: HUNGARY, 2008 - 2017 timeline: back to the 2008 business volume, after the financial crisis' impact

7 February 2019 —
STATISTICS: HUNGARY, 2008 - 2017 timeline: back to the 2008 business volume, after the financial crisis' impact
During 2008-2017 the main segments of the Hungarian insurance market - life and non-life insurance -, recorded a U-shape trend, both in written premiums and paid claims terms. Life insurance claims made the only exception from this path, recording a growth trend in the toughest years of the financial crisis.

Over the arch of the analyzed decade, while the market remained slightly under the 2008 level in GWP terms, claims paid for most business lines were at the end of the period somewhat similar to the 2008 values.

Two main periods can be distinguished in the evolution of the main business lines, especially in the premiums: the decrease between 2008-2014 and the recovery between 2015-2017. On the overall market, by the end of 2017, the premiums dropped by EUR -307.9 million (-9.15% change) and the paid claims by EUR -37.9 million (-1.96%) in these 10 years.

The life sector premiums decreased by EUR -269.4 million (-15.35%) in the last year compared to the reference year, while the paid indemnities went up by EUR 23.6 million (+2.05%). The life insurance business volume keeps an impressive market share in Hungary. During the 10 years' time horizon that we've studied, the life premiums kept a solid share, between 48-55% while the indemnities took a massive amount of share between 60-70%. Life insurance in Hungary has one of the highest volume in the CEE region.

Just like the life business, non-life sector in Hungary decreased by the end of the period by EUR 38.5 million (-2.39%) in premiums and EUR 61.6 (-7.85%) in paid claims. Non-life business dropped between 2008 - 2014, managing to recover this gap by the beginning of 2015. The Hungarian non-life portfolio structure is a bit different than the usual CEE one. For non-life in Hungary, property insurance is the highest in market share, having around 32-44% from non-life business, while MTPL 20-31% and motor hull 16-23%. However, most of the paid indemnities for non-life goes into MTPL. About the MTPL, this line keeps itself at a very low level, ranging between 9.5-15.9%.

The Hungarian insurance ranks third in CEE region in GWP terms. Most probably, the 2018 results will mark the moment of full recovery after the financial crisis, in business volume, displaying for the first time GWP volumes exceeding the 2008 values.



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