Learn About the Insurance Industry in The Philippines

Wednesday April 23 11:00 AM

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c89550) has announced the addition of "Philippines Insurance Report Q1 2008" to their offering.

The Philippines Insurance Report provides independent forecasts and competitive intelligence on Philippines' insurance industry.

This report differs from its predecessors in that it includes BMI's Insurance Business Environment Rating (IBER). The rating brings together a number of pieces of relevant quantitative data, together with BMI's Country Risk Rating (CRR). It is now much easier to consider the business environment for the insurance sector in any one country relative to the business environment for other industries in that country that are surveyed by BMI, and the business environment for the insurance sector in other countries.

The Philippines IBER is 51.4. Relative to other countries in the Asia Pacific it is a medium-sized market, although much less-developed than its immediate neighbours. Regionally it equates to Indonesia in terms of penetration and density. Its IBER is significantly held back by a heavy bureaucratic and tax burden in a generally unhelpful regulatory environment. The Philippines stands out for its highly fragmented insurance market.

Over the forecast period, we anticipate that non-life premiums will grow by 20% annually in local currency terms and by 10% in US$ terms. Life premiums are expected to increase by 6% annually in local currency terms and by 9% in US$ terms.

The key drivers of growth in the non-life segment in 2007-2012 are the anticipated rise in nominal GDP from around US$141.4bn to US$196.9bn. Nevertheless in non-life penetration from is expected to be sluggish from around 0.65% to 0.75% of GDP. Life penetration is likely to perform even worse rising from 0.85% to 0.94% over the period. However, life density is expected to be the key driver of growth with the envisaged rise from a miniscule US$14.02 per capita in 2007 to US$20 per capita in 2012. The Philippines' total population is growing slowly.

The competitive landscape, in both the non-life and the life segment, is extremely fragmented by any comparison. Both segments are open to participation by foreign groups and these have been prepared to overlook the challenges of doing business in the Philippines, possibly because their ability to insure offshore against risks in the country give them an advantage over local groups.

The Philippines insurance sector has relatively few barriers to entry and has tried and tested strong brands that have weathered many adverse conditions in the market over the year. It is, however, extremely fragmented in both in the life and non-life segments. Perhaps the most significant obstacle the industry faces is the heavy tax burden put on premiums which erodes corporate profit margins and discourages new customers. Combined with this, the economy is expected to continue a slowdown and there are ongoing security and stability concerns in the country. Notwithstanding these negatives, with low penetration rates there is obviously room for growth should other issues be successfully dealt with.

Topics Covered:

The Sector At A Glance

SWOT Analysis

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Business Wire

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Learn About the Insurance Industry in The Philippines

Wednesday April 23 11:00 AM