Insurance sales grow 16% in the best H1 since 2019
Portugal’s insurance companies made around €1Bn more on polices sold in the first half of the year compared to the same period last year. And insurance associations predict that 2024 will be the best year for the sector since 2019.
According to the APS (Portuguese Insurers Association) insurers sold €6,852 million worth of policies in the first half of the year (+16% compared to the first half of 2023), with the Life segment growing 24% to €3,221 million, while the Non-Life branches segment was up 10% to €3,632 million – a growth similar to that recorded a year earlier.
In the Life segment, growth was mainly down to capitalisation products (+17%) that this year benefited from the increase in interest rates and supply of products with guaranteed income and PPR ( +59%), which in turn benefited from a more competitive supply. Life Risk insurance, normally associated with housing and consumer loans, grew by only 1%, continuing the pattern of low levels of growth seen since 2019.
In the Non-Life branches, growth was 10%, with emphasis on health insurance, with growth of 18% to 846 million premiums sold, reflecting the continuous and growing demand for private healthcare policies from customers, and also the price growth as a result of the increase in costs due to inflation and an increase in claims.
In the car and vehicle insurance sector, revenue growth was also 10% to €1,234 million for the semester. Also in this sector there were significant premium updates to compensate for the increase in claims costs due to inflation in the prices of service providers.
The Occupational Accidents segment recorded a 9% increase in revenues to €660 million, a growth related to the general salary increases recorded this year and in 2022 to maintain the value of wages in line with inflation.