Total premium income among local general insurance companies in 2018 was 89.8 trillion won ($76.1 billion), up by only 3.4 percent from the previous year. (Image: Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, Jan. 29 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean general insurance companies are suffering from slowing growth and losses.
The Korea Insurance Development Institute reported that total premium income among local general insurance companies in 2018 was 89.8 trillion won ($76.1 billion), up by only 3.4 percent from the previous year.
The growth rate of the general insurance market continues to slow down after reaching 5.4 percent in 2016 and 4.6 percent in 2017.
Premium income from long-term policies was 50.6 trillion won, up by 3 percent from the previous year.
With the upcoming introduction of the International Financial Reporting Standards 17 (IFRS 17), savings-type insurance products have been dwindling in number, while category 3 insurance products that cover personal accidents and illnesses have increased.
Premium income from car insurance was 15.8 trillion won, down by 1.4 percent from the previous year largely due to expanding online marketing channels and discount policies.
General insurance made a premium income of 9.1 trillion won, up by 10.8 percent from the previous year led by the growth of surety insurance in the private banking market and the popularity of miscellaneous insurance that include mobile phone policies, livestock insurance, and special coverage for agricultural produce.
The total loss ratio was 82.1 percent in 2018, up by 1.1 percent points from the previous year.
Loss ratios for car and general insurance have increased, while long-term policies saw their loss ratio shrink by 1.1 percentage points.
The loss ratio of car insurance was 78.6 percent, up by 5.2 percentage points from the previous year due to cuts in premium income and increasing medical charges by oriental medical hospitals.
For general insurance, the loss ratio was 63.3 percent, up by 3 percentage points since the previous year due to a larger amount of insurance payments coming from livestock/agricultural policies and surety insurance.
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
