Allianz: Global Insurance Premiums Grew 7.1% to €6.9 Trillion in 2025, With Health the Fastest Segment and Asia Set to Drive the Next Decade

The world insurance industry grew faster than most economies in 2025, according to Allianz Research. In the Allianz Global Insurance Report 2026, titled "The Future of Insurance in a Fragmenting World" and published on May 28, 2026 by the research team of Allianz Investment Management SE, the group estimates that global insurance premiums grew 7.1% to €6.9 trillion in 2025. That added €456 billion of premiums in a single year. Growth slowed from 9.4% in 2024, but it remained above the ten-year average of 5.6%.

The three main segments grew at different speeds. Life premiums reached €2,861 billion, P&C (property and casualty) premiums €2,320 billion, and health premiums €1,688 billion. Health was the standout, with premiums up 12.3%, the fastest growth since 2014. In North America health premiums grew 14.9%, and the report says the United States accounts for over 70% of global health premiums. In Asia, health insurance penetration, meaning premiums relative to the size of the economy, is below 1% in almost all markets, so the report sees substantial room to grow.

P&C premiums rose 3.8%, compared with 8.5% in 2024, as pricing cycles matured. North America holds 52% of global P&C premiums but grew only 2.2%, while Western Europe grew 5.3% and Asia 4.0%. The slowdown in North America matches other data: Marsh's index shows US composite commercial rates down only 1% in the third quarter of 2026 after rising sharply in earlier years, and AM Best has reported a $16.5 billion US homeowners underwriting profit for 2025, signalling that price increases are no longer as large.

Life premiums rose 6.9%, down from 11.3% in 2024. The report says the annuity boom in North America is losing momentum. Asia grew 9.9% in life premiums, with China up 11.4%. These patterns reflect the effect of interest rates: high rates made annuities attractive in the United States in 2023 and 2024, and the surge is now fading, while Asian growth is driven by rising incomes and demand for savings and protection.

The report looks ahead ten years, to 2036. Allianz forecasts overall market growth of 5.3% a year, slightly above economic output. By segment, it expects P&C to grow 4.7% a year, life 4.9% and health 6.7%. The total premium pool is projected to increase by €5,260 billion, including €1,991 billion for life, €1,505 billion for P&C and €1,764 billion for health. The geography of that growth is the key theme. Wider Asia adds €1,004 billion, more than North America (€416 billion) and Western Europe (€402 billion) combined. North America keeps about 46% of global market share, down 0.5 percentage points, while India and China together gain almost 4 percentage points. Western Europe loses about 4 percentage points, following a loss of 5.3 points over the last decade. The page reviewed gives ten-year figures to 2036.

The report's title refers to fragmentation, and the authors discuss what it means for insurers. Geopolitical fragmentation weakens cross-border business models and diversification, which are central to global insurers and reinsurers, but it also raises demand for resilience and specialised cover such as political risk and energy security. The report says that "resilience is replacing efficiency as the dominant organizing principle," a shift it links to the need for affordability. In practice, this suggests customers and governments will pay more attention to whether risks are covered and claims are paid in a crisis, and less to the lowest cost. The page reviewed does not detail specific products or policies in response.

A simple calculation from the segment figures shows the mix of the market. The three segments sum to about €6,869 billion, so life accounts for roughly 42% of global premiums, P&C about 34% and health about 25%. Because health is growing fastest, both in 2025 and in the forecast, its share should rise, although the report summary reviewed does not state a target share. The forecast increases are also informative: of the €5,260 billion of additional premiums expected over ten years, life contributes about 38%, P&C about 29% and health about 34%, meaning health is expected to supply a third of new premiums from a quarter of today's base. These shares are the author's arithmetic from the published figures, not statements in the report.

The authors are Michaela Grimm, Patrick Hoffmann, Simon Krause, Hazem Krichene, Kathrin Stoffel and Katharina Utermöhl. The report is a research publication from the insurer's own economists, and it should be read as one respected view, not as an official statistic. Allianz is itself a major global insurer with interests in the trends it describes, such as its recent agreement to buy HSBC's Singapore life insurer, an example of the Asian expansion the report highlights.

What are the implications? For insurers, the report supports a strategy of looking to Asia, especially India and China, and to health insurance, where growth is fastest and penetration low. For regulators, it points to the need to supervise fast-growing markets and to manage risks from geopolitical fragmentation. For consumers, the growth of health premiums, 12.3% in a year, reflects rising healthcare costs and demand, and in the United States, where most of the premium is, it coincides with concerns about affordability.

Several figures are not in the material reviewed, including wealth figures and general insurance penetration measures beyond the Asian health figure. Readers who need those should consult the full PDF report from Allianz Research.