The visa liberalization regime Albania has been enjoying since mid-December 2010, played an important role in raising the purchases of insurance for trips abroad
TIRANA, May 30 – Albania’s insurance market continued its moderate growth even in the first four months of this year despite the number of purchased insurance policies doubling compared to the same period in 2010. Data published by the Financial Supervisory Authority show new insurance premiums during the first four months of 2011 registered moderate growth, climbing to 2.93 billion lek, up 8.22 percent compared to the same period in 2010 while insurance policies doubled to 408,433. Voluntary insurance premiums accounted for a majority of 57 percent compared to 43 percent for compulsory insurance. Compulsory motor insurance in the first quarter dropped by 0.35 percent to 1.27 billion lek. Voluntary insurance premiums grew by 15.8 percent to 1.65 billion lek compared to the first four months of 2010. Within this group, life insurance premiums were up 48.5 percentزegistering at 354 million lek. The considerable increase is also a result of the visa liberalization regime Albania has been enjoying since mid-December 2010, which significantly raised compulsory insurance purchases during trips abroad. According to the Financial Supervision Authority, Albania continues to be one of the countries with the lowest annual consumption per capita of insurance. Albanians pay on average 20 dollars annually for compulsory and voluntary insurance of vehicles, as well as property and life insurance– a small amount compared to other European countries. The insurance market continues to be dominated by Sigal, which held 26 percent of the compulsory and 46 percent of the voluntary market during January-April 2011. State-owned insurer Insig, which has been put on the privatization list of public assets, is currently the fifth largest insurer, controlling 6.3 percent of the compulsory market and 11.4 percent of the voluntary. All 10 licensed companies active in the sector are domestic, but since 2007, Albania has attracted increased foreign (EU) participation. New insurance premiums during 2010 climbed to 8.2 billion lek (around 82 million dollars), up 4.17 percent compared to January-December 2009, registering a significant drop compared to 2009 when the market increased by 11.3 percent year-on-year. The number of insurance policies continued declining during the whole of 2010, dropping to 736,278, down 2.57 percent compared to 2009, according to the Financial Supervisory Authority. Gross paid claims grew by 8 percent to 683 million lek.
