Revenue of insurance sector shoots up 12%

THE insurance sector in Cambodia earned $133.5 million in premiums in the first half of this year, up 12.1 per cent compared to the $119.1 million in the same time last year, data from the Insurance Association of Cambodia (IAC) show.

Of that, general insurance premiums accounted for $57.9 million (up 17.5 per cent year-on-year), life insurance premiums $72.8 million (up 9.7 per cent) and microinsurance premiums $2.8 million (down 17.7 per cent).

IAC chairman Huy Vatharo told The Post on Thursday that the sector continued to show positive signs in the first half, Covid-19-induced slowdown in insurance sales activity notwithstanding.

He said: “Although the insurance market in Cambodia is comparatively small, we can see a steady growth trend.

“In the past, the insurance sector in Cambodia had been growing at around 30 per cent per year, but now the growth will not be as high as before, because customer appointments with agents have seen a decline during the period.”

He said the surge in general insurance segment revenue was buoyed by a 67 per cent year-on-year rise in income from property insurance – especially in the marine, aircraft and transport sub-segments – engineering insurance (up 27 per cent), health insurance (up 20 per cent), fire insurance (up 12.2 per cent) and vehicle insurance (up 11.2 per cent).

But micro-insurance segment revenue fell during the period, he said, citing a drop in people’s incomes, leading them to temporarily suspend their insurance policies.

The insurance sector paid out around $15.4 million in claims in the first half of the year, he said. General insurance accounted for $11.5 million, life insurance $3.4 million and micro-insurance $0.5 million.

The sector earned $196.4 million in premiums in 2018, up from $151.6 million in 2017, the Ministry of Economy and Finance reported.