Global reinsurer Swiss Re recently published its “World Insurance in 2021” report in which it ranked Lebanon 80^th in the world (compared to the 66^th place it occupied in the previous year) and 9^th in the MENA region in terms of insurance penetration (being the ratio of insurance premiums to GDP) in the year 2021. More particularly, Lebanon’s insurance penetration rate stood at 1.0% (compared to 1.8% in 2020), preceded by Morocco (global rank: 39; penetration rate: 4.0%) the U.A.E. (global rank: 47; penetration rate: 2.9%), and Iran (global rank: 55; penetration rate: 2.4%), among others. Lebanon outperformed Qatar (global rank: 81; penetration rate: 0.9%), Algeria (global rank: 84; penetration rate: 0.7%) and Egypt (global rank: 85; penetration rate: 0.6%). Globally, Laos ranked first in terms of insurance penetration in the world in 2021 with a penetration rate of 113.0%, followed by the Cayman Islands (21.0%), Hong Kong (19.6%), Taiwan (14.8%) and South Africa (12.2%).

In absolute terms, Lebanon’s total insurance premiums came in just below $1.76 billion in 2021, up from $1.56 billion a year before, registering as such a nominal annual growth rate of 12.4% and an inflation adjusted y-o-y drop of 55.9%. The hike in insurance premiums in Lebanon can be partly attributed to the market preference towards fresh dollar premiums to adjust for the devaluation of the pound and the multiple exchange rates. The country’s share of global insurance premiums stood at 0.03% in 2021, qualifying Lebanon to rank 66^th in the world (losing 2 places from the 64^th position it held in 2020) and 6^th in the MENA region. Lebanon trailed Iran (global rank: 27; insurance premiums: $28.07 billion), the U.A.E. (global rank: 37; insurance premiums: $12.11 billion), Saudi Arabia (global rank: 39; insurance premiums $11.21 billion), Morocco (global rank: 50; insurance premiums: $5.34 billion), and Egypt (global rank: 56; insurance premiums $2.81 billion) in the region. Globally, the United States topped the list of covered countries in terms of total insurance premiums booked in 2021 (just below $2.72 trillion), accounting for 39.63% of world total insurance premiums, followed, and at quite a distance, by China ($696.13 billion <10.15%>) and Japan ($403.59 billion <5.88%>).