Global reinsurer Swiss Re recently published its “World Insurance in 2020” report in which it ranked Lebanon 66^th in the world (compared to the 44^th place held in the previous year) and 7^th in the MENA region in terms of insurance penetration (being the ratio of insurance premiums to GDP) in the year 2020. More particularly, Lebanon’s insurance penetration rate stood at 1.80% (compared to 2.85% in 2019), preceded by Morocco (global rank: 34; penetration rate: 4.50%) the U.A.E. (global rank: 42; penetration rate: 3.30%), and Bahrain (global rank: 53; penetration rate: 2.40%), among others. Lebanon outperformed Oman (global rank: 68; penetration rate: 1.60%), Saudi Arabia (global rank: 71; penetration rate: 1.50%), and Kuwait (global rank: 79; penetration rate: 1.10%), only to name a few. Globally, Hong Kong ranked first in terms of insurance penetration in the world in 2020 with a penetration rate of 20.80%, followed by Taiwan (17.40%), the Cayman Islands (14.50%), and South Africa (13.70%).

In absolute terms, Lebanon’s total insurance premiums came in just over $1.56 billion in 2020, down from $1.61 billion a year before, registering as such a negative nominal annual growth rate of 3.0% and an inflation adjusted y-o-y drop of 47.3%. The country’s share of global insurance premiums stood at 0.02%, qualifying Lebanon to rank 64^th in the world (losing as such 1 place from the 63^rd position it occupied in 2019) and 6^th in the MENA region. Lebanon trailed Iran (global rank: 34; insurance premiums: $15.98 billion), the U.A.E. (global rank: 36; insurance premiums: $11.83 billion), Saudi Arabia (global rank: 39; insurance premiums $10.36 billion), Morocco (global rank: 49; insurance premiums: $5.08 billion), and Egypt (global rank: 57; insurance premiums $2.39 billion) in the region. Globally, the United States topped the list of covered countries in terms of total insurance premiums booked in 2020 (just above $2.53 trillion), accounting for 40.25% of world total insurance premiums, followed, and at quite a distance, by China ($655.87 billion <10.43%>) and Japan ($414.81 billion <6.60%>).