Statistical Databases: OECD Insurance Statistics Online Database

OECD Insurance Statistics Online Database

The insurance industry is a major component of the economy by virtue of the amount of premiums it collects, the scale of its investment and, more fundamentally, the essential social and economic role it plays by covering personal and business risks.

This database covers major official insurance data from 1993 onwards, obtained from all the governments of OECD countries as well as Singapore which has an observer status at the OECD Insurance Committee. (Exceptionally, data for the Czech Republic, Korea, Mexico, Poland and the Slovak Republic are available respectively since 1993, 1994, 1993 and 1997 only).

The publication contains not only general information on insurance activities but also data related to major trends of the international insurance industry such as the market share by foreign companies in each country, business written abroad, premiums in terms of risk destination (foreign or domestic risks), foreign and domestic investments. Meanwhile, the scope of data collection has been expanded to include gross claims payments, gross operating expenses and commissions.

Coverage includes:

• number of companies
• number of employees
• premiums by type of insurance
• market share by foreign companies in each country
• business written abroad
• premiums in terms of risk destination (foreign or domestic)
• foreign and domestic investments
• gross claims payments
• gross operating expenses and commissions
• OECD market share
• penetration
• density
• premiums per employee

In order to contribute to a better understanding of the insurance market, important insurance activity indicators (OECD market share, penetration, density, premiums per employee...) are included in the comparative tables. With these indicators, the characteristics of insurance market can be more clearly perceived, in particular, in relation to national economic conditions.

In the comparative tables, a significant effort has been made to achieve comparability among OECD countries. Definitions, classifications, calculation methods, and units have been standardised as far as possible.