Double-digit market growth attracts new entrants

Austria is the largest investor in the Romanian insurance sector, followed by France, Holland and the UK

In stark contrast with its neighbouring countries, Romania’s insurance market appears to have come through the worldwide recession relatively unscathed. Gross written premium income continued to grow at the same rate in 2008 as compared with the previous year, recording a rise of 24.5% to Lei8,936mn (US$3,523mn). After taking account of inflation at 6.3%, the real rate of growth still stood at 17.2%, against 17.5% the previous year.