The Insurance Commission says that insurance receipts rose significantly in the first quarter of 2017, following a 2016 which saw a lot of uncertainty in the first three quarters and a significant decline at the end of the year. 

The Commission says that for all insurance sectors combined, premiums increased by 5.67% compared to the same period last year.

Unlike in 2016, parallel developments in the various sectors were noted. While the receipt of the life insurance business rose by 5.14% compared with the first quarter of 2016, non-life insurance premiums increased by 9.12% for the same period.

In life insurance, the 5.14% quarterly increase in inflows masks divergent and very large developments depending on the type of product. For guaranteed-yield products premiums are down 27.89% and are at their lowest level since mid-2015. Net inflows were slightly negative, with redemptions exceeding the level of cash inflows. This decline is more than offset by the 26.92% increase in unit-linked life insurance products, a sector in which benefits are also rising sharply, but which have not led to a downturn.

Total life insurance company technical reserves amounted to €163.50 billion at the end of March 2017, an increase of 10.81% compared with the end of March 2016 and a 2.37% At the end of December 2016. Given the favourable market conditions in the first quarter, stronger growth could have been expected, while the more modest growth was explained by the approximately €4.28 billion of redemptions and other first quarter services 2017, which corresponds to an annual redemption rate of 10.55% over technical provisions. This rate is up significantly from 8.16% in the 4th quarter of 2016.

Non-life insurance rose by 9.12% in the first three months of 2017. Luxembourg insurers working mainly, if not exclusively on the national market, recorded an increase in their inflow of 3.28%. With a 14.35% increase in their inflows, companies operating abroad in the non-life insurance sectors excluding marine insurance continue their dynamic path in previous quarters. The figures for marine insurance, which is essentially the work of a few large mutuals whose collection reflects the evolution of claims, will only be available later. 

All data are available on the www.caa.lu website of the French Insurance Commission.