India's insurance market is expected to lead the G20 nations in premium growth at an average rate of 7.3% annually between 2025 and 2029. A new India market outlook report published by global reinsurer Swiss Re released in January 2025 says India is emerging as a global economic powerhouse, supported by robust domestic consumption, private investment and progressive reforms.
The report predicts that India will surpass Germany and Japan to become the world’s third-largest economy by 2030. The positive domestic factors will likely also benefit from steady global economic growth, projected to grow at 2.8% in 2025 and 2.7% in 2026.
The Swiss reinsurer expects India to be the fastest growing G20 economy over the period 2025-2034 achieving average real GDP growth of 6.2% annually.
Life insurance growth
Life insurance contributes around three fourth of India’s total insurance premium. Life insurance premiums are expected to grow by 4.8% in 2024 and 5% in 2025. For the 2025-29 period, growth is expected to average 6.9% annually.
Non-life insurance
Non-life insurance is expected to grow at 7.3% annually between 2025 and 2029, up from 5.7% in 2024. Rising risk awareness, strong economic growth and regulatory support for digitalisation are driving the non-life sector. The two major contributors to the overall growth are health and motor portfolios. Agricultural insurance is also gaining ground, especially due to government sponsored agricultural insurance schemes.
Challenges
In 2023, natural catastrophes in India resulted in economic losses of $12bn, significantly above the 10-year average of $8bn. Swiss Re head of insurance market analysis Mahesh H Puttaiah said, “The rapid pace of India’s economic growth has moved faster than actions taken to reduce vulnerabilities posed by natural catastrophes.”
Sustainable growth
The insurance sector has a pivotal role in supporting transition. Reinsurers can enhance the viability of large-scale green projects by offering tailored risk solutions based on advanced risk engineering and underwriting data.
Mr Puttaiah said, “Alongside economic development, India has made progress in its transition to net-zero by 2070, with increased focus on renewables, low-carbon transport and industrial decarbonisation. Facilitating the transition requires investment into adaptation and mitigation measures, for example, sustainable infrastructure and related technologies. Re/insurers can improve the viability of large transition projects by providing tailored risk solutions, which leverage their extensive experience and risk engineering and underwriting data."