Return on equity remained positive in 2025 across most reporting jurisdictions, averaging 16.7% in life insurance and 15.7% in non-life insurance. Shareholder equity also grew in most markets, with the average rate of growth improving compared with 2024 across all three insurer types.
Global Insurance Market Trends 2026
Abstract
Return on equity across most reporting jurisdictions in 2025 reflected strong underwriting performance and positive investment returns. It averaged 16.7% in life insurance, 15.7% in non-life insurance, and 17.7% in composite insurance (Figure 5.1). Life insurers recorded positive returns in all reporting jurisdictions, and only two non-life markets, Slovenia and Argentina, recorded negative returns. Life insurer return on equity was below the average recorded in 2024 (17.6%), with declines recorded in most reporting jurisdictions relative to 2024. Non-life insurer return on equity, by contrast, increased from 13.6% in 2024.
In per cent
Note: For more details, please see the methodological notes in Annex B.
Source: OECD Global Insurance Statistics.
While return on equity was positive overall, a higher interest rate environment could increase the cost of equity for insurers as investors can earn higher returns on alternative investments. Assessed against this backdrop, the moderation in life insurer return on equity may signal a more challenging return environment than the headline figures alone may suggest.
Shareholder equity grew across most reporting jurisdictions in 2025, with declines recorded in only a small number of jurisdictions. The overall picture improved compared with 2024, with the average rate of growth in shareholder equity increasing from 2.7% to 8.2% among life insurers, from 8.2% to 13.2% among non-life insurers, and from 4.5% to 10.8% among composite insurers (Figure 5.2). The number of jurisdictions recording declines also fell across all three groups.
In per cent
Note: For more details, please see the methodological notes in Annex B.
Source: OECD Global Insurance Statistics.
As in previous years, the largest increases were recorded in jurisdictions with elevated inflation, including Türkiye and Argentina, where high nominal returns translated into larger increases in shareholder equity. Among jurisdictions recording declines in life insurer equity, the pattern is consistent with possible bond valuation losses arising from the rise in long-term interest rates that particularly impacted the Euro area during 2025, although other factors, such as dividend payments made by insurers to their investors, may also have contributed.