TIRANA, March 3 – Albania’s insurance market registered a significant 19 percent increase in January 2015 boosted by a sharp rise in compulsory motor insurance which accounts for the overwhelming majority of 65 percent of the market. In a report published this week, the Financial Supervisory Authority said insurance premiums in January 2015 rose to 1.17 billion lek (Euro 8.2 million), up 18.77 percent compared to a year ago.
Paid claims in January 2015 rose by 7 percent to 216 million lek (Euro 1.5 million) which is around 18.5 percent of total gross insurance premiums.
Albania’s insurance market registered a record double-digit growth in 2014 fuelled by a sharp rise in compulsory auto insurance.
The 36 percent market boost which is the best performance in the past six global crisis years was a result of a sharp rise in compulsory motor insurance rates in early 2014, a situation which continued during the whole of the year sparking allegations of a price-fixing deal by all ten market operators.
The Albanian insurance market, dominated by two Austrian insurance groups, is overwhelmingly non-life oriented with around 91 percent while compulsory insurance accounts for 60 percent of total insurance premiums.
Some ten insurance companies operate in Albania, of which only INSIG remains wholly state-owned following unsuccessful privatization attempts.
