engleski

The comparison of insurance markets in ex-Yugoslavia countries with transition countries and European and world insurance market

An insurance market state of development is an important factor of the financial system and the national economy functioning. A developed insurance market protects private persons, legal entities and economy from losses, contributes to the stable business environment and development of capital markets, where insurance companies act as institutional investors. The author analyzes the insurance industry by quantifying its state of development using few parameters: Total premium volume, insurance density (premiums per capita), insurance penetration (the ratio of total premium volume and GDP) and the proportion of life and non-life insurance in total premium volume. The article analyzes the above parameters for selected ex-Yugoslavia countries (Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia) and compares them to the parameters of selected transition countries (Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia), EU15, EU25 and the World. The comparison of insurance market development based only on total premium volume is not appropriate because bigger countries should, logically, have larger total premium volume regardless the state of insurance market development. Opposite of that elementary logic, when analyzing the ex-Yugoslavia countries we get just opposite conclusion. Although Serbia is the biggest of the three selected countries by size and population, it has the lowest total premium volume. On the other hand, Slovenia, the smallest by size and population, has the far largest total premium volume, while Croatia is in the middle of the selected ex-Yugoslavia sample, by size, population and by total premium volume. Regarding the insurance density parameter, Slovenia is far ahead Croatia and Serbia and the rest of transition countries. Croatia is, concerning the above parameter, in the middle of selected transition countries sample, while Serbia has the far lowest insurance density level among all analyzed countries. However, insurance markets of all analyzed ex-Yugoslavia and transition countries are far bellow EU25 average, and especially EU15 average, but are comparable with the World insurance density average. Concerning insurance penetration criterion, Slovenia is the leading insurance market among the selected ex-Yugoslavia countries. But, all analyzed ex-Yugoslavia and transition countries are, concerning insurance penetration parameter, lagging behind European and the World average. The proportion of life insurance in total premium volume of selected ex-Yugoslavia countries is well under the European and World average proportion. Similarly, in all selected transition countries, this proportion is also, bellow the European and the World average proportion and varies from extremely low proportions in Bulgaria and Romania to quite favorable proportions of life insurance in total premium volume in Poland and Hungary.

insurance penetration; insurance density; life-insurance; total premium volume; transition countries

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