Allianz Research says the global insurance industry continued to expand in 2025, though the pace eased from the exceptional momentum seen a year earlier. Total premiums across property and casualty, life, and health are estimated to have risen by 7.1% to EUR6.9trn, adding roughly EUR456bn to the worldwide premium base. Even with slower growth than in 2024, the sector still performed above its long-term average, suggesting that core structural drivers remain intact.
A major shift is now unfolding in property and casualty insurance, where the market is moving away from the sharp pricing upswing of recent years and toward a more balanced phase. Global P&C premiums increased by 3.8% in 2025, a clear slowdown from the 8.5% jump recorded previously and below the segment’s 10-year average growth rate of 5.6%. Allianz attributes this softer trend to a maturing pricing cycle and a gradual easing in claims inflation.
Regional momentum varies as mature markets slow
North America remained the largest P&C market, representing 52% of global premiums, but its expansion dropped sharply to 2.2% after 9.7% growth the year before. Western Europe showed firmer resilience with 5.3% growth, while Asia delivered a more modest 4% increase. In the UK, total insurance premiums rose by just 2.8% in 2025, about half of the country’s 10-year average, reaching EUR408bn. UK P&C and health lines were particularly subdued, growing only 1.1% and 1.6%, respectively.
Within the broader industry, life insurance remained the largest segment at EUR2,861bn, followed by P&C at EUR2,320bn and health at EUR1,688bn. Life premiums advanced by 6.9% globally in 2025. Although this was below the exceptionally strong 11.3% seen in 2024, it still stood comfortably above historical norms. Allianz noted that the moderation came mainly from North America, where the annuity boom has begun to lose strength as interest-rate advantages fade.
Asia, however, emerged as the main engine of life insurance growth. The region posted a 9.9% increase in 2025, helped by China’s 11.4% expansion. Supported by aging populations and strong savings behavior, Asia continues to hold its position as the world’s largest life insurance market.
Health insurance accelerates on medical cost pressures
Health insurance delivered the fastest growth among the major segments, with premiums surging 12.3% in 2025, the strongest performance since 2014. Allianz links this acceleration to aging demographics and rising healthcare costs. North America climbed 14.9% as medical inflation intensified, and the US now accounts for more than 70% of global health premiums.
Even though the post-pandemic spike has started to normalize, Asia still offers substantial long-term upside in health insurance. In many markets across the region, penetration remains below 1%, pointing to meaningful room for future expansion.
Fragmentation raises complexity but opens new demand
Allianz Research warns that a more fragmented global economy is making risks harder to manage. Cross-border business models are under pressure, and traditional diversification benefits are becoming less reliable. At the same time, this changing environment is creating fresh opportunities for insurers as demand rises for protection, resilience, and specialized risk transfer in fields such as infrastructure, energy security, and political risk coverage.
To stay competitive, insurers will need to become more regionally resilient, build geopolitical analysis directly into underwriting and capital allocation, and design products suited to newly emerging risks.
Looking ahead, Allianz forecasts that the global insurance market will grow by an average of 5.3% annually over the next decade, slightly ahead of economic output. Life insurance is expected to expand by 4.9% per year, supported by higher interest rates and demographic trends, with Asia leading this advance. Health is projected to remain the most dynamic line, with global annual growth of 6.7%.
Over the next 10 years, the global premium pool is expected to increase by EUR5,260bn. Life insurance should contribute the largest share at EUR1,991bn. More than half of the additional premium volume is expected to come from Wider Asia, generating EUR1,004bn, which would exceed the combined contribution of North America at EUR416bn and Western Europe at EUR402bn.
In P&C, Allianz expects 44% of the extra EUR1,505bn in premiums to come from North America. In health insurance, projected additional premiums of EUR1,764bn are expected to be driven mostly by the US market. Meanwhile, the global market balance is gradually shifting eastward. North America is forecast to retain roughly 46% of global market share through 2036, losing only 0.5 percentage points, while China and India together are expected to gain nearly 4 percentage points.
For the UK, annual insurance growth is projected at 3.4%, broadly in line with nominal GDP growth of 3.6%. Globally, P&C premiums are expected to increase by 4.7% annually through 2036 as protection needs continue to rise.
Ludovic Subran, Chief Economist and Chief Investment Officer at Allianz, said the global economy is being reshaped by geopolitical fragmentation, reversing many long-standing assumptions about trade, capital, and regulation. He emphasized that resilience is now replacing efficiency as the main organizing principle. According to Subran, this transition is making operations more complex and expensive, increasing the urgency of affordability while reinforcing insurance’s role not only in transferring risk, but also in supporting investment, innovation, and broader economic confidence.
