Strong growth in Italian premiums

By Heather O‘Brian

Italian insurance regulatory authority ISVAP said that premiums in the country‘s insurance sector rose 31.3% to Lire60.578trn in the first six months of 1999. The growth was strongest in the life insurance sector, which saw premiums rise 56% over the like, year-earlier period to Lire35.465trn. However, ISVAP also pointed to a higher growth rate for non-life premiums. In the non-life business, premiums rose 7.3% to Lire25.113trn after posting a 6.8% growth rate in the first half of 1998. Looking at specific non-life sectors, ISVAP noted that motor liability premiums rose 12.2% in the period and accounted for 51.2% of all the country‘s non-life premiums. Other motor policies saw an 4.9% increase in premiums (10.2% of total non-life premiums).