French life premiums rise 6% in first half 2009

France’s life insurers collected premiums of €71.8bn ($101.9bn) during the first six months of this year, which was an increase of 6% from the corresponding period last year. The bulk of this was for traditional policies denominated in Euros, which generated premiums of €63.7bn ($90.4bn), a rise of 14%; unit-linked business continued to decline, and during the first half of this year generated only €8.1bn ($11.5bn) of business, a decline of 31% from the first half of last year. Benefits paid amounted to €44.7bn ($63.5bn) in the first six months of this year, a very slight decline from the first half of last year. The total sums assured under both life and savings policies (including mathematical provisions and provisions for profit-sharing) stood at €1,189bn ($1,688bn) as of the end of June, showing an increase of about 3% in the past year.