The Middle East and North African (Mena) insurance market was worth more than $42 billion in annual premiums in 2011, up from $26 billion in 2007, according to a survey by the Qatar Financial Centre Authority (QFCA).

The non-life markets, which accounted for $35 billion in 2011, grew at an average annual growth rate of 7.5 per cent, while the life markets, accounting for $6.6 billion expanded by 10.1 per cent per annum, adjusted for inflation, said a report in our sister publication, the Gulf Daily News.

Insurance markets in the Mena region continue to mirror the macroeconomic dynamics of the region as well as the market's low insurance penetration. However, this gap is narrowing as Mena insurance markets have outpaced GDP growth recently.

"The Mena region exhibits above average GDP growth, even faster insurance premium growth, a young and rising population, low levels of insurance penetration and, in most countries, a rather limited natural catastrophe exposure," said QFCA chief executive Shashhank Srivastava.

"The Mena Insurance Barometer is our fourth regular survey of the insurance and reinsurance markets, first covering the Gulf countries and now the wider Mena region," said QFCA director of strategic development Akshay Randeva. – TradeArabia News Service