In the first half of 2014, the Lithuanian insurers wrote insurance premiums amounting to LTL 1,013.7 million (EUR 293.6 million), a year-on-year increase of 7.8%, but still 2.9% less than in the first half of 2008, when the volume of Lithuania's insurance market was the highest, Bank of Lithuania informed. According to the half-year review published by the market authority, the life insurance market grew by even 18.3% (to LTL 331.0 million / EUR 95.9 million), while the non-life insurance market was up by 3.4% (to LTL 682.8 million / EUR 197.7 million) over the year.

"The stunning performance of the life insurance market reflects a general improvement in the economic situation in the country - the gross domestic product (GDP) has been growing moderately for a few years already, while increasing by 3% in the first half of the current year on year, and amounted to LTL 59,056 billion at the prices at that time. It should be noted that the amount of premiums written in the life insurance market exceeded the previously highest volumes recorded in the first half of 2007 by 0.5%, or LTL 1.7 million", Bank of Lithuania noted.

In non-life insurance, high competition "had an impact on the changes in this market: fees on a number of non-life insurance types decreased, this being the reason why the dynamics of the volumes of non-life insurance classes was different from life insurance dynamics".

The amount of premiums written within the largest non-life insurance class — MTPL insurance — rose by 3.1% y-o-y, but 2.2% less than during the economic upswing in the first half of 2008. "The growth in the volumes of the MTPL insurance class was due to a 9.7% increase in the legal persons' premiums written, while the amount of the residents' premiums written declined by 1%".

In motor hull insurance - the second class as share in non-life segment, the growth rate was only 0.2%. "Within the Casco insurance class, unlike in the MTPL insurance class, the amount of residents' premiums written grew (by 2.2%), while that of legal persons declined (by -1.1%)", Bank of Lithuania stated.

Regarding claims, life insurance indemnities contracted by 19.2%, "which suggests that the boom of claims paid has come to an end and was due to a great number of expired life assurance contracts that had been concluded by the end of 2002, before change in the tax environment".

The decrease in the amount of non-life insurance claims paid was due to a decline in credit insurance claims paid that almost halved (by 48%, to LTL 20.7 million). At the same time, the amounts paid within the motor vehicles classes of insurance declined as well, while the 53% increase in the amounts of claims paid within the property insurance class (to LTL 58.0 million) was due to the crop insurance claims paid (LTL 12 million).

"Considering the country's economic indicators and the insurance market performance for the first half-year, towards the end of the year insurance market growth is likely to be below expectations — about 6% (instead of the forecasted 8-10%). The forecast for life assurance market growth is above 15% (instead of the forecasted 9-11%); the growth rate of the non-life insurance market will be positive, however, at a mere 1% (the forecast was 8-10%)".

Access www.xprimm.com and download the 1H2014 Lithuanian insurance market statistics.

Market portfolio (in EUR and LTL):

• Gross written premiums
• Paid claims
• Growth rates
  

Market rankings (GWP/Claims/Market shares/Growth rates - in EUR and LTL):

• Life insurance ranking
• Non-life insurance ranking