THE Insurance Commission (IC) has expressed optimism that the insurance industry would pose a double-digit growth for this year, barring external risks including the Wuhan coronavirus.
On the sidelines of the IC’s 71st anniversary, IC Commissioner Dennis B. Funa told reporters on Tuesday he keeps a bullish outlook this year considering that the industry has grown for the past three years.
“Barring external issues, I continue to be confident…[that] the performance of the basics are undisturbed. Fundamentals are okay,” Funa said, noting that the impact of the Wuhan coronavirus still remains to be seen.
Nonetheless, Funa expressed concern over the possible impact of the virus as he said there are already signs of a slowdown in global economic activity, given that equities are down and gasoline prices are up.
Asked what his industry growth projection for the year is, Funa said he prefers not to give an exact figure but added that he wants a “steady growth.”
Premiums in 2019 soared by 32.67 percent to P224.97 billion in a span of three years.
This is a 2.768-percent increase from P218.91 billion in the same period in 2018.
Prior to this, premium income was recorded at P181.51 billion and P169.56 billion in Q3 2017 and Q3 2016, respectively.
Life-sector premiums also amounted to P172.05 billion as of end-September 2019, while the nonlife sector contributed P44.02 billion in net premiums written.
Industry assets also grew by 31.72 percent in a span of three years from 2016. As of end of third quarter of 2019, industry assets reached a record high of P1.74 trillion. This showed an increase of 12.258 percent from P1.55 trillion in the same period in 2018.
Industry assets were posted at P1.54 trillion and P1.32 trillion as of end-third quarter of 2017 and 2016, respectively.
As of end-September 2019, the life sector alone posted P1.39 trillion in assets while the nonlife sector accounted for P248.99 billion.
As for the preneed industry, the sector’s assets also rose by 3.70 percent in Q3 2019 to P127.62 billion from P123.07 billion in Q3 2018. Its premium income also increased by 20.60 percent year-on-year to P16.99 billion from P14.08 billion as of end-Q3 2018.
The HMO (health maintenance organization) industry also showed an upswing, with total assets of P37.27 billion for the same period. This was up by 8.64 percent from P33.83 billion from the same period in 2018.
Forty million Filipinos are also covered by micro-insurance as of end-September 2019.
In terms of insurance density, the amount of premium per capital also rose by 1.16 percent year-on-year. This means that each individual is willing to spend P2,077.30 on insurance.
The insurance sector’s contribution to the national economy in terms of premium as a share of GDP reached 1.69 percent in the third quarter of 2019.
Market penetration has also reached 59.15 percent as of end-September 2019.