While life insurance remained the largest growth segment (2,861 billion euro), it was followed by P&C (2,320 billion euro) and health (1,688 billion euro).

“The life insurance market remained robust in 2025, although the exceptional post-rate-hike boom in North America has clearly lost momentum. Global life premiums grew by 6.9% in 2025, down from the exceptionally strong 11.3% recorded in 2024 but still comfortably above historical norms. The moderation was driven primarily by North America, where the annuity boom fuelled by households locking in higher interest rates has started to lose momentum,” Allianz Research noted.

Asia, however, has further consolidated its status as the world’s largest life insurance market, supported by demographic aging, high savings rates, and less comprehensive public pension systems. The life insurance premiums in Asia grew by 9.9% in 2025, with China alone expanding by 11.4%.

“Health insurance is becoming the industry’s clearest structural growth story. Global health premiums increased by 12.3% in 2025, the strongest expansion since 2014, as aging populations, rising medical costs, and pressure on public healthcare systems continued to drive demand for private protection. North America alone grew by 14.9% as medical inflation accelerated further, with the US now accounting for more than 70% of global health premiums. Despite some normalization following the post-Covid surge, long-term growth potential remains particularly strong in Asia, where health insurance penetration is still below 1% in almost all markets,” Allianz Research said.

Among Asia’s key insurance markets, Singapore recorded strong growth of 10.7% in 2025, with total premium income rising to 39.7 billion euro. P&C insurance premiums, on the other hand, expanded by 8.3%, while life insurance premiums grew by 10.8%, well above the 2015-2025 average of 7.5%, supported by population aging and increasing demand for private pension provision. Health insurance premiums rose by 12.6%, reflecting growing demand for supplementary health coverage.

“Overall, the global insurance market is expected to grow at an annual rate of 5.3% over the next ten years, slightly above economic output. For Singapore, overall annual growth is expected to be 5.7% (nominal GDP: 3.7%). For P&C, Allianz expects global annual growth of 4.7% up to 2036 (Singapore: 5.6%). The segment will show solid growth rates in almost all markets, as the increasing need for protection is a global phenomenon,” the agency noted.

Allianz Research also remains confident about the prospects of life insurance in Asia, which can expect annual growth of 4.9% thanks to higher interest rates on the continent.

“Wider Asia remains the growth engine, driven by the need for private provision in the face of accelerating demographic change. The smallest segment, health insurance, should remain the most dynamic, with annual growth of 6.7% (Singapore: 8.4%). Asia, in particular, still has a lot of catching up to do,” it concluded.

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The “Global Insurance Report 2026″, prepared by Allianz Research, analysed developments in insurance markets worldwide and found that while growth moderated from the 9.4% recorded in 2024, it remained above the industry’s 10-year compound annual growth rate of 5.6%.

“Life insurance remained the largest segment at 2,861 billion euro, followed by property and casualty (P&C) at 2,320 billion euro and health at 1,688 billion euro,” the study remarked.

“The P&C segment slowed sharply, growing by only 3.8% in 2025 – well below both the previous year’s 8.5% expansion and its 10-year average of 5.6% – as pricing cycles matured and claims inflation stabilised. North America, which accounts for 52% of global P&C premiums, recorded growth of just 2.2%, down from 9.7% the previous year, while Asia continued to exhibit the world’s largest protection gap, with penetration of just 1.3% compared with 4.3% in North America. Life insurance grew by a still robust +6.9%, though the US annuity boom is fading. Health insurance remained the industry’s strongest growth story, expanding by +12.3%, the fastest pace since 2014, driven by rising medical costs and growing demand for private healthcare protection,” Allianz Research said.

Behind the boom in the health insurance segment, the report identified factors like the surge in ageing populations, rising medical costs, and growing pressure on public healthcare systems. North America alone grew by 14.9%, with the United States now accounting for more than 70% of global health premiums.

Asia, on the other hand, emerged as the principal engine for life insurance, with premiums rising 9.9% across the region and China alone expanding by 11.4%. The Allianz Research report noted that demographic ageing, high savings rates, and less comprehensive public pension systems underpinned Asia’s position as the world’s largest life insurance market.

“Despite Asia’s rise, global insurance remains overwhelmingly dominated by the US. North America increased its share of global premiums from 42.5% to 46.4% over the past decade, meaning that almost every second euro written globally now originates from the region. China has emerged as a clear number two, increasing its market share from 7.5% to 10.9%. Yet, at 746 billion euro in premiums, it remains less than a quarter of the size of the North American market at 3,191 billion euro. Western Europe, by contrast, will continue to lose relative weight across most business lines,” the study observed.

Using the Iran war as its case study, Allianz Research also flagged geopolitical fragmentation as a growing force reshaping the insurance industry, creating both operational complexity and new demand for specialised coverage across infrastructure, energy security, and political risk.

“The Iran war is acting as a major external supply shock, disrupting energy markets, trade flows and supply chains. In our central scenario, global GDP growth is expected to slow to +2.6% in 2026, while Eurozone growth will fall to just +0.8%. If the conflict is not resolved during the summer, we expect additional upward pressure on inflation and a materially worse global growth outlook. More broadly, geopolitical fragmentation is creating a structurally more complex operating environment, challenging assumptions around global integration, capital mobility and cross-border risk diversification. Insurers will need to adapt by building more regionally resilient operating models, integrating geopolitical analysis more directly into underwriting and capital allocation and developing products tailored to emerging risks such as cyber escalation. While fragmentation raises costs and operational complexity, it also increases demand for protection and resilience, reinforcing the strategic relevance of insurance in a more uncertain global environment,” it said.

Looking ahead, Allianz Research projected the global insurance market would grow at an annual rate of 5.3% over the next 10 years, with the global premium pool reaching 12,129 billion euro by 2036.

“Geopolitical fragmentation is reversing many of the assumptions that shaped the global economy for decades. As trade, capital flows, and regulation become increasingly fragmented, resilience is replacing efficiency as the dominant organising principle. This shift is making the operating environment more complex and costly, making the push for affordability even more urgent. Nothing less than insurance’s strategic importance is at stake: not only as a mechanism for risk transfer but also as a critical enabler of investment, innovation, and economic confidence,” said Ludovic Subran, Chief Economist and Chief Investment Officer at Allianz.

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