Insurers have reported that there is still a huge amount of work to complete in order to successfully deliver IFRS 17 ahead of the 2023 deadline, according to a global survey by WTW.

According to WTW's latest survey, entitled 'IFRS 17: Will we make it?', insurers report material progress has been made since WTW's previous IFRS 17 poll in 2021. However, most survey participants also express ongoing delivery concerns resulting in the need to apply more shortcuts and simplifications in order to deliver on time.

The total cost faced by the global insurance industry to implement IFRS 17 is now estimated by WTW to be USD 18-24 billion. This represents a substantial increase of 20% compared to the original estimate made by WTW in 2021, primarily to reflect companies realizing more work is required than first envisaged.

Kamran Foroughi, Global IFRS 17 Advisory Leader at WTW, said: "The next 12 months are critical for the industry to deliver IFRS 17 programs on time. The survey results lay bare the true scale of the challenge that inevitably means pushing more work post the "go live" date in order to maximize delivery confidence for the program."