Insurance Premiums Jump 11.4% to KES 237.9 Billion in Q3 2022-IRA

According to the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA), insurance premiums increased by 11.4 per cent to KES 237.9 billion in the third quarter of last year compared to the same period in 2021, boosted by an economic recovery caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

By the most recent Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) data, premiums increased from KES 213.53 billion in July-September last year to KES 237.9 billion in the same period the previous year.

The expansion came at a time when businesses were recovering from the economic impact of the coronavirus, which had shut down thousands of companies and resulted in low customer traffic.

Under general insurance, fire industrial gross premium income increased by 30.9 per cent during the same period, rising from KES 11.55 billion to KES 15.12 billion.

The most significant decrease was in personal accidents, from KES 2.12 billion to KES 2.02 billion.

“The underwriting performance of the general insurance continued to make an improvement recording a loss of KES 2.26 billion from a loss of KES 4.13 billion reported in Q3 2021,” the report said.

Workers’ compensation had the highest underwriting profit of KES 2.48 billion. In contrast, private motor, commercial, and personal accidents had the highest underwriting losses of KES 2.89 billion, KES 1.75 billion, and KES 868.74 million, respectively.

“The total Gross Premium Income (GPI) reported under long term insurance business by the end of Q3 2022 amounted to KES 103.49 billion (Q3 2021: 92.12 billion) representing a growth of 12.3% compared to a growth of 24.0% in Q3 2021,” the report indicates.

The insurance industry’s profit before tax reached Sh9.06 billion, a 3% increase over the Sh8.79 billion recorded in the third quarter of 2021.

“Asset base grew by 9.8% to KES 918.02 billion at end of Q3 2022 from the KES 836.11billion held at end of Q3 2021. A significant portion of total assets KES 805.42 billion (85.6%) were held in income generating investments.” the report states.

Long-term insurance premiums totalled KES 103.49 billion, accounting for 43.5 per cent of total industry premiums, while general business premiums totalled KES 134.41 billion (56.5 per cent).