The UAE insurance sector experienced continued growth in Q2 2024, as evidenced by the Quarterly Economic Review released by the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) on Wednesday. During the first half of 2024, gross written premiums surged by 31.2% year-on-year to reach AED 35.7 billion. This growth was largely attributed to a 39.4% increase in property and liability insurance premiums, a 30.7% rise in health insurance premiums, and a 9.1% growth in premiums for insurance of persons and fund accumulation. The primary driver behind this expansion was the increase in both group and individual life insurance premiums.
The gross paid claims across all types of insurance plans also saw a significant rise, climbing by 34.0% year-on-year to AED 18.9 billion in H1 2024. This was predominantly fueled by a 46.2% increase in claims paid for property and liability insurance and a 150% rise in claims for insurance of persons and fund accumulation. Additionally, the total technical provisions for all types of insurance increased by 22.8% year-on-year to AED 94.2 billion.
Invested assets within the insurance sector amounted to AED 78.7 billion, representing 50.8% of total assets, compared to AED 72.9 billion (57.1% of total assets) in the same period of 2023. The retention ratio of written insurance premiums for all types of insurance stood at 53.1% (AED 18.9 billion) in H1 2024, down from 53.8% (AED 14.6 billion) a year earlier. The UAE insurance sector maintained a strong capital position, with various capital adequacy ratios showing improvements.
In terms of profitability, the net total profit to net written premiums ratio was 6% in H1 2024, compared to 10.4% in the previous year. The return on average assets also increased to 0.7% in H1 2024, up from 0.5% in the first half of 2023. Currently, there are 59 licensed insurance companies in the UAE, including 23 traditional and 10 takaful national companies, 25 branches of foreign insurance companies, and one branch of a foreign reinsurance company.
The number of insurance-related professions has reached 498.
