Kenya's general insurance sector posted a profit after tax of KSh 10.7 billion in 2025, a 23% decline from KSh 13.9 billion recorded in the prior year, as rising claims and a sharp increase in operating costs outpaced premium growth, according to data from the Insurance Regulatory Authority.
- •Gross premium income across all 34 active general insurers grew 11.4% to KSh 227.2 billion from KSh 203.9 billion in 2024, continuing the sector's expansion but at a slower pace than claims, which rose 12.8% to KSh 108 billion over the same period.
- •Nine insurers posted net losses in 2025 with DirectLine Assurance recording the deepest loss at KSh 929.8 million, its third consecutive year in the red and the worst result in the company's recent history.
- •Motor private and motor commercial combined contributed 27.1% of total premium at KSh 55.8 billion, while fire industrial was the third largest class at KSh 23.2 billion.
Britam General Insurance led the sector on profit after tax at KSh 1.8 billion, recovering from KSh 1.1 billion in 2024 and up sharply from near-zero levels in 2021. APA Insurance followed at KSh 1.5 billion while GA Insurance, despite its premium ranking, posted KSh 1.4 billion after a KSh 3.6 billion result in 2024 that appears to have been inflated by a one-off item.
Mayfair Insurance posted KSh 1.2 billion, its highest ever, extending a profitable streak that now spans over nine consecutive years. Old Mutual General earned KSh 1.1 billion while Heritage Insurance and CIC General posted KSh 1.0 billion each.
Among the mid-tier players, ICEA Lion General posted KSh 682.5 million, Jubilee Health Insurance KSh 556.5 million, and Tausi Assurance KSh 531.6 million.
DirectLine has been loss-making in six of the last nine years. Geminia Insurance recorded a KSh 611.3 million loss after a KSh 553.9 million profit in 2024, one of the sharpest single-year reversals in the dataset. MUA Insurance lost KSh 369.0 million, Definite Assurance KSh 346.5 million, and Bupa Global KSh 191.0 million. Takaful Insurance of Africa, Kenya Orient Insurance, and Kenyan Alliance Insurance also reported losses.
Three insurers, KUSCCO Mutual Assurance, Corporate Insurance Company, and Trident Insurance Company, reported zero figures following the IRA's decision to place them under statutory management in March 2026 for failure to meet solvency requirements.
TABLE: Gross Premium Income by Class, General Insurance 2022-2025 KSh Bn | Figures are gross premium income | YoY: 2025 vs 2024
| Class | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | Share | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medical | 54.89 | 66.31 | 76.21 | 93.29 | 41.1% | ▲+22.4% |
| Motor Private | 27.71 | 28.93 | 28.88 | 31.76 | 14.0% | ▲+10.0% |
| Motor Commercial | 26.17 | 26.19 | 27.10 | 24.02 | 10.6% | ▼-11.4% |
| Fire Industrial | 17.69 | 20.43 | 21.55 | 23.22 | 10.2% | ▲+7.7% |
| Workmen's Comp | 13.19 | 14.73 | 13.37 | 11.42 | 5.0% | ▼-14.6% |
| Engineering | 5.27 | 4.64 | 5.13 | 6.47 | 2.8% | ▲+26.2% |
| Miscellaneous | 3.81 | 5.95 | 6.45 | 5.92 | 2.6% | ▼-8.3% |
| Motor PSV | n/a | n/a | n/a | 5.73 | 2.5% | n/a |
| Theft | 4.23 | 4.86 | 5.29 | 5.61 | 2.5% | ▲+6.1% |
| Liability | 3.84 | 4.77 | 4.90 | 5.48 | 2.4% | ▲+11.8% |
| Marine | 4.19 | 4.41 | 4.66 | 4.80 | 2.1% | ▲+3.0% |
| Aviation | 3.63 | 4.63 | 4.96 | 4.67 | 2.1% | ▼-5.8% |
| Personal Accident | 2.49 | 3.46 | 3.34 | 2.68 | 1.2% | ▼-19.8% |
| Fire Domestic | 1.81 | 2.03 | 2.03 | 2.10 | 0.9% | ▲+3.2% |
| Total | 168.92 | 191.34 | 203.87 | 227.17 | 100% | ▲+11.4% |
The sector's combined ratio, which measures the proportion of earned premium consumed by claims, commissions, and management expenses, deteriorated to 104.5% from 103.9% in 2024. A combined ratio above 100% indicates the underwriting operations are loss-making before investment returns are applied.
Direct expenses, comprising underwriting management costs and commissions, rose 18.4% to KSh 53.8 billion, the fastest rate of growth among the major cost lines.
Seven insurers controlled 52.9% of total gross premium income. CIC General Insurance led with a 9.1% market share, followed by APA Insurance at 8.5% and Old Mutual General at 8.1%. GA Insurance and Jubilee Health Insurance each held 7.5% while Britam General and AAR Insurance held 6.6% and 5.6% respectively.
The five active general reinsurers posted a combined profit after tax of KSh 2.7 billion, a 61.3% increase from KSh 1.7 billion in 2024. All five were profitable. WAICA Reinsurance Kenya led on PAT margin at 11.3%, followed by East Africa Reinsurance at 10.6% and Kenya Re at 9.1%. Kenya Re remained the dominant general reinsurer by premium with a 39.6% market share, though its PAT of KSh 1.1 billion was the lowest since 2020 and represented a steep decline from KSh 3.2 billion in 2023.
General reinsurers' gross premium contracted 5.2% to KSh 32.4 billion as direct insurers retained a larger share of risk, with the sector retention ratio rising from 68.9% to 70.7%.
Medical and motor continued to dominate claims with medical accounting for 50.9% of all claims incurred at KSh 54.9 billion, with a claims ratio of 77.7%. Motor private accounted for 20.3% at KSh 21.9 billion and motor commercial 19.6% at KSh 21.2 billion. The three classes together represented 90.8% of total incurred claims while contributing 68.2% of total premium, a mismatch that defines the sector's underwriting challenge.
Motor Commercial PSV recorded the worst incurred claims ratio in the industry at 131.0%, meaning the class paid out KSh 1.31 for every KSh 1.00 in earned premium.
TABLE: Claims Incurred by Class, General Insurance 2022-2025 KSh Bn | Claims ratio = net incurred claims / net earned premium
| Class | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | Share | Ratio 2025 | Ratio 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medical | 32.51 | 38.67 | 45.72 | 54.92 | 50.9% | 77.7% | 78.0% |
| Motor Private | 19.27 | 19.01 | 19.75 | 21.88 | 20.3% | 73.6% | 74.6% |
| Motor Commercial | 18.18 | 18.59 | 19.57 | 16.42 | 15.2% | 77.9% | 75.4% |
| Motor PSV | n/a | n/a | n/a | 4.74 | 4.4% | 131.0% | n/a |
| Workmen's Comp | 2.42 | 2.98 | 2.75 | 3.04 | 2.8% | 36.1% | 36.5% |
| Fire Industrial | 1.52 | 1.27 | 2.53 | 1.22 | 1.1% | 25.3% | 56.6% |
| Theft | 0.72 | 1.01 | 1.08 | 1.15 | 1.1% | 39.6% | 51.7% |
| Miscellaneous | 0.95 | 1.42 | 1.34 | 1.11 | 1.0% | 51.9% | 45.0% |
| Liability | 0.58 | 1.07 | 0.42 | 1.06 | 1.0% | 49.9% | 23.3% |
| Marine | 0.81 | 0.66 | 0.31 | 0.73 | 0.7% | 32.8% | 15.7% |
| Engineering | 0.77 | 0.58 | 0.99 | 0.64 | 0.6% | 44.6% | 71.0% |
| Personal Accident | n/a | 0.42 | 0.33 | 0.53 | 0.5% | 33.4% | 22.6% |
| Fire Domestic | 0.21 | 0.38 | 0.88 | 0.52 | 0.5% | 33.8% | 66.7% |
| Aviation | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.04 | 0.02 | 0.0% | 62.0% | 933.2% |
| Total | 77.64 | 86.09 | 95.71 | 107.97 | 100% | 69.8% | 70.4% |
Net investment income for general insurers rose 6.5% to KSh 20.5 billion from KSh 19.3 billion in 2024, the slowest growth rate in recent years as interest rates declined. The Central Bank Rate fell from 11.25% at end-2024 to 9.00% by December 2025, with the 91-day Treasury bill averaging 8.36% across the year against 16.7% in mid-2024.
Total assets across general insurers grew 12.0% to KSh 290.4 billion. Shareholders' funds rose 9.2% to KSh 95.0 billion. The investment portfolio reached KSh 190.8 billion, with government securities accounting for 59.3% at KSh 113.2 billion and term deposits 17.8% at KSh 33.9 billion.
