Al Bayan Economic magazine, the specialized banking, insurance, and shipping pan-Arab monthly magazine, published its annual “MENA Insurers, Reinsurers and Reinsurance Brokers 2018 Ranking” special issue in which it ranks some 386 insurance companies in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region according to their written premiums for the year 2018. The issue also features the top 150 MENA insurance companies in terms of balance sheet size, shareholders’ equity, and profits, in addition to a ranking of MENA reinsurance companies according to their respective written premiums, equity, and net profits and a ranking of MENA reinsurance brokers according to their written premiums. Qatar Insurance topped the list of MENA insurance companies in terms of written premiums in 2018 ($2,969.52 million), followed by the Saudi BUPA Arabia ($2,284.50 million), the Saudi Tawuniya ($2,037.70 million), the Emirati Daman National Health ($1,370.00 million), and the Kuwaiti Gulf Insurance Group ($1,200.54 million). In parallel, Qatar Insurance came in first in the region in terms of total assets ($10,760.00 million), shareholders’ equity ($2,190.00 million), and profits ($182.46 million).

From a concentration standpoint, Lebanon continued to house the largest number of insurance companies (50) in the MENA region for yet another consecutive year, followed by Egypt (37) and the UAE (35), only to name a few. The major Lebanese insurance companies that surfaced on the list include: Arabia/Lebanon (MENA rank: 41), Allianz SNA (MENA rank: 47), Medgulf (MENA rank: 49), Metlife Alico (MENA rank: 57) and Bankers (MENA rank: 58).

The aggregate domestic written premiums of all Lebanese insurance companies stood at $1,732.74 million in 2018 in comparison with $1,673.66 million in 2017, with their combined local profits reaching $204.38 million in 2018 up from $165.37 million in 2017.