The private insurance sector looks back on a 2024 that primarily saw a continuation of the trends of previous years. ‘The development of the premium volume reflects growing costs, economic development, but in part also society’s changing understanding of risk,’ says the Association’s CEO Urs Arbter, commenting on the development. All in all, this development can be seen as a sign that the insurance industry is living up to its reputation as an anchor of stability for the Swiss economy.

While non-life saw slightly above-average, largely cost-related growth of +3.6 per cent, growth in health and accident insurance was slightly below average at +1.5 per cent. This is primarily attributable to a close correlation with wage growth that was down slightly on previous years. At -1.3 per cent, life insurance saw a slight drop in its overall premium volume, driven by a trend towards partial autonomy in group life insurance. By contrast, individual life insurance policies rose again slightly. It not yet possible to make any accurate predications with regard to reinsurance business. However, the SIA expects the growth trend to continue with a slight increase in premium volume. Without taking reinsurance into account, the premium volume for the insurance industry grew by 0.9 per cent as a whole. 

The growth of 3.6 per cent in the non-life segment is slightly above average and can mainly be attributed to increasing costs. Higher prices for repairs and replacement parts are also causing the volume of premiums in the motor vehicle third-party liability segment to rise again for the first time in many years. The growth in the fire, natural hazard and property damage insurance segments, on the other hand, can be attributed to a cost-related increase in insured amounts, even though the construction cost index has gone down again. These changes will only be reflected in premium volumes with a delay. In the fields of professional and general liability insurance, stricter insurance conditions are causing insurance volumes to continue to rise despite the economic downturn. 
 

The supplementary health insurance portfolio also grew slightly. The volume of premiums grew by 1.3 per cent, while premiums themselves only increased slightly. The situation is different for sickness benefit and accident insurance, where the slightly below-average increase in the volume of premiums can be attributed to slower pay growth compared to the previous year. 

The life insurance segment is still characterised by opposing trends. Falling periodic premiums in group life insurance indicate a continuation of the trend towards partial autonomy. In individual life insurance, the positive trend seen in recent years is continuing, with more slight growth. 

The Swiss reinsurance market grew by 4 per cent in 2023, which is just above the long-term average of 3 per cent per year. The volatility of premium volumes in the reinsurance business is primarily attributable to the fact that the market has a strong international character and premium volumes are heavily dependent on companies’ internal retrocessions, which are adjusted in the wake of changes to tax regulations, for example.
It is not yet possible to make a projection for 2024.