Global Marine Insurance premiums hit $38.9bn in 2023, reports IUMI

At its 150th annual conference in Berlin, Germany, the International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI), a global association representing marine insurers, presented its analysis of the latest trends in the marine insurance market.

In 2023, the global marine insurance premium base reached USD 38.9 billion, marking a 5.9% increase compared to the previous year. Growth was recorded across all sectors, with the Offshore Energy sector seeing a 4.6% rise, Cargo insurance up by 6.2%, and Ocean Hull premiums increasing by 7.6%.

The distribution of premiums remained largely unchanged from 2022. Cargo held the largest share at 56.9%, followed by Ocean Hull at 23.6%, Offshore Energy at 11.9%, and Marine Liability at 7.7%.

By region, Europe retained the biggest portion of global premiums with 48.5%, followed by Asia/Pacific at 28.1%, Latin America at 10.9%, North America at 7.0%, and 5.5% for the rest of the world.

European premiums have shown a positive trend since 2019, while the Asian market has been recovering steadily since 2016. Latin America and North America also experienced modest growth in their premium base.

Astrid Seltmann, Vice-Chair of IUMI’s Facts & Figures Committee, commented: “Global premiums reflect a combination of insurable volumes and prices per unit. The drivers for the increase in premiums are typically a continued rise in global trade volumes & values (cargo), coupled with increases in vessel values (hull), or the increase in oil price inducing more activity in the offshore energy segment.”

Adding: “More widely, geopolitical conditions will have impacted premiums in a number of regions, as have general market conditions, specifically capacity. Overall, 2023 appears to have been a positive year for marine underwriters. The other part of the equation is the impact of claims which has been comparably benign over the past few years, despite individual severe claims giving rise to concern such as fires; and some visible inflation impact on the average cost of attritional losses.

“However, ever larger vessels, increasing value accumulations, changes in technology and fuels as well as changes to trading routes all mean a change of risk, which needs to be taken monitored and taken into account going forward.”

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