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Liem Phan, Head L&H Re SEA & India at Swiss Re, highlights important trends and developments in life and health insurance in APAC:

- Smriti Pandey

Smriti Pandey: What are the key trends in life and health insurance in the APAC region that contrast with global trends?

Liem Phan: APAC is a diverse and dynamic region with markets at various economic conditions and stages of development. In general, the trends in life and health insurance in APAC are in line with the global ones, but we have also seen some developments that are more prominent in APAC, given the significant demographic shifts and societal changes across the region.

Swiss Re Institute (SRI) projects that the retirement savings gaps for India and China will grow at faster rates annually (10% and 7%, respectively) in the years until 2050, compared with advanced economies like the US (4.7%) and Japan (2.5%), due to rapid population ageing and the growing middle class. The gap for 6 advanced economies (Australia, Canada, Japan, Netherlands, UK, and the US) and China and India was estimated at $106 trillion in 2022, and is expected to reach $483 trillion by 2050.

Insurance plays an important role in building resilience for people’s retirement. The surge in interest rates to 15-year highs will provide life insurance and pension products a tailwind to much better tackle the retirement savings gaps. We expect the life savings market in APAC to expand significantly as a growing middle-class adopts retirement planning and incomes in emerging markets rise. SRI forecasts the life savings premiums of 8 markets (Australia, Hong Kong, India, Japan, mainland China, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan) in APAC will reach $1.4 trillion by 2034.

The Indian market will see the highest annual growth rate of 9.5% (CAGR 20242034), followed by mainland China (7%), Hong Kong (6.2%), and Singapore (5.8%). Reinsurers can help life insurers seize these opportunities by freeing up capital, boosting underwriting capacity, and focusing on product innovation for capitallight growth.