Taiwan: Toppled from throne after 13 years
Source: Asia Insurance Review | Aug 2021
Hong Kong overtook Taiwan last year as the insurance market with the highest penetration rate in the world, a crown which Taiwan had worn for 13 consecutive years to 2019.
According to Swiss Re’s latest Sigma report on world insurance, due to falling life insurance premiums, Taiwan’s insurance penetration in 2020 ranked second globally at 17.4% (2019: 19.97%), compared to Hong Kong’s 20.8% (2019:19.74%).
In 2020, total life insurance premium income in Taiwan stood at NT$3.16tn ($113bn), a fall of 8.73% compared to 2019. New-business premiums amounted to NT$916.8bn last year, representing a plunge of more than 28% from 2019.
In the past, life insurance was the top supporter of Taiwan’s insurance penetration rate. In fact, Taiwan’s life insurance penetration rate ranked highest in the world for 12 consecutive years until 2019 when the island fell to second place. This was because new-business premiums contracted in 2019. They declined for the second consecutive year last year. A