Impending boom?
The profitability of insurance companies was increased significantly in 2023. According to the Hellenic Association of Insurance Companies, in the period January-November 2023 the production of insurance premiums showed an increase of 8.7% compared to the same period of 2022, reaching 4.7 billion euros. Revenues on general coverage are the highest (increasing by 12.3%), followed by the life sector (+5.1%). In November, premium production reached 465 million euros, a 12.9% increase. Non-life Insurance recorded premiums of €221 million, up 8.6%, while life insurance reached €244 million, up 17.1%.
The same trend continued in the last month of the year, allowing premium production increase to approach 10%. Such rate is significantly outstripping the growth rate of the Greek economy; it is attributed to increased charges as well as the government’s initiative to offer a 10% discount on real estate taxes (ENFIA) for properties insured against natural disasters.
The absolute record for the sector remains the premium production of 2009, at 5.448 billion euros. The foundations for the drive to that sum were laid almost three decades earlier, in the early 1990s. In March 1993, Industrial Review dedicated a special issue to the insurance market, describing the then-current situation, problems and challenges. Many of which remain particularly relevant.
