Manama: Mahmood Rafique, Editor: Bahrain’s domestic insurance market gross premiums reached BD 146.86 million in the six months ended 30 June 2022 compared to BD 143.62 million in 2021, an increase of 2.3 per cent.
The statistics released by the Central Bank of Bahrain showed that the insurance industry has shown steady results for the six months ended 30 June 2022 with general insurance business (including medical insurance business) contributing to 84% of the gross premiums written for the same period of 2022.
Total gross premiums of the medical insurance have increased from BD 45.68 million in the six months ended 30 June 2021 to BD 46.78 million in the same period of 2022, showing an increase of around 2%. Medical insurance is the largest in terms of total gross premiums which represented around 32% of the total gross premiums written in the period ended 30 June 2022.
The total gross premiums in Motor insurance class increased by 5% to reach BD 36.06 million in the period ended 30 June 2022 compared to BD 34.48 million in the same period of 2021. Motor insurance is the second largest class of insurance in terms of gross premiums which represented around 25% of the total premiums written in the period ended 30 June 2022.
Total gross contributions of Takaful Firms registered BD 41.30 million in the six months ended 30 June 2022 compared to BD 43.67 million in the same period of 2021. Gross contributions of Takaful Firms represent around 28% of the total Bahrain gross premiums in the six months ended 30 June 2022.
In the six months ended 30 June 2022, Bahrain’s domestic insurance market comprised of 21 Locally Incorporated Firms and 10 Overseas Insurance Firms (branches of foreign companies) carrying out Insurance, Reinsurance, Takaful, Retakaful and Captives business in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The locally incorporated firms consisted of 12 Conventional Insurance Firms, 5 Takaful Firms, 2 Reinsurance Firms, 1 Retakaful Firm and 1 Captive, while Overseas Insurance Firms consists of 9 Conventional Insurance Firms and 1 Reinsurance Firm. In addition, there are a substantial number of insurance brokers and insurance ancillary services.
“The insurance sector in Bahrain holds promise for growth, as demonstrated by the industry’s performance for the period ended 30 June 2022. This is due to the growth in Medical Insurance class that resulted from the public awareness about the importance of such class of insurance,” Abdul Rahman Al Baker, Executive Director, Financial Institutions Supervision, at the CBB, said.
“We expect the insurance sector to grow in the coming years, mainly due to the increase in the public awareness on the importance of the insurance products in general, as well as due to the soundness of regulatory and supervisory framework of the insurance sector in Bahrain,” Al Baker, added.
“The CBB’s directives to insurance companies regarding digital transformation in the insurance sector in general, and in motor insurance and medical insurance, have contributed to the growth in these two sectors. Moreover, the CBB aims to a higher level of such digital services in this sector, to provide the best financial and insurance services with ease and convenience” Elham Taleb, Director, Insurance Supervision Directorate, at the CBB, said.
