Swiss Re sees premium growth in the insurance market continuing under the influence of higher claims and higher risk awareness, resulting from climate change and cyberattacks. This would appear from the reinsurer’s own investigation. The reinsurer also takes into account higher inflation of wage, medical and other costs. Swiss Re predicts that by the end of this year non-life insurance premiums will be 10 percent higher than before the pandemic, with 6.9 trillion dollars. In 2022, they should be above 7 trillion for the first time. Now that investment returns are low, insurers need to focus on higher premiums. Investment returns are normally the primary income of insurers. Insurers clearly see higher and more frequent risks of natural disasters and cyber attacks, according to CEO Reinsurance Moses Ojeisekhoba of Swiss Re. There is therefore a greater need for protection. In the long term, climate change is the biggest risk to the global economy. Without measures to mitigate the effects, up to 18 percent of the gross product of the global economy will be lost by 2050, the reinsurer predicts. In particular, the risks of floods and forest fires resulting from climate change are increasing, leading to greater damage in combination with increasing urbanisation. On the upside, climate change requires major investments for Sustainable Development: $ 6.9 trillion a year, the reinsurer estimates. This offers a lot of growth opportunities for the insurance industry. Inflation risk has also increased. The insurer expects the pressure from rising consumer prices to continue in the short term, and in the medium term Swiss Re foresees rising wage pressures and medical costs, which will increase claims. There is also talk of’ Social inflation’: increasing costs of large claims against large companies.
