Romania is 6th largest property insurance market in CEE

Romania is the 6th largest property insurance market in Central and Eastern Europe, with 262 million euros, Adrian Marin, president of the National Union of Romanian Insurers and Reinsurers (UNSAR) told the 16th International Catastrophic Risks Forum on Tuesday. 

"Romania is the 6th largest property insurance market in Central and Eastern Europe with 262 million euros, one million euros less than fifth-ranked Slovakia. However, it is worth mentioning that written premiums for property in Romania are six times smaller than in Poland and are half compared to Hungary. It is also noteworthy that compared to 2017 the property market increased in 2018 by 5.4 percent in the CEE and 4 percent in Romania," Adrian Marin said at the event. 

He mentioned that in H1 2019 the growth of the domestic property market was 9.7 percent. 

Marin also noted that although Romania is CEE's sixth largest property market, it is 3rd by the cumulative non-life insurance business due to the share of the car insurance industry. 

"The figures clearly reflect the potential but also the Romanians' protection deficit. In H1 2019 gross written life and non-life insurance premiums amounted to 1.15 billion euros, up 7.82 percent compared to H1 2018," said Adrian Marin. 

He went on to say that the property segment represents 16 percent of the non-life insurance market, with gross written premiums of 146 million euros. 

Of the entire Property line, home insurance (optional and compulsory) accounts for 36 percent of the gross written premiums, ie 52 million euros as of mid-2019. Optional home insurance underwritings advanced 7.4 percent compared to H1 2018, while mandatory home insurance underwritings went up by 3.6 percent. However, this growth is not sufficient when it comes to the home insurance penetration rate in Romania.