Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 22
By Abbas Akhundov - Trend:
There have been denials that in 2013 the forecasts that Azerbaijan's insurance market would grow was only due to obligatory types, head of the State Insurance Supervision Service under the Azerbaijani Ministry of Finance Namiq Khalilov said on Tuesday.
"The compulsory insurance kinds were the main driver of the market growth in 2012," he told Trend on Tuesday. "Voluntary insurance is mainly ensured by our market growth in 2013. The voluntary insurance market volume grew 26 percent in 2013, whilst the growth of compulsory kinds hit 5.64 percent. This was one of the main differences from 2013. The growth rate for voluntary insurance fees will also be good in 2014."
The total volume of premiums of all companies existing in the country amounted to 405.68 million manat, an annual growth of 18.44 percent, while payments made during the reporting period hit 122.8 million manat , a 30.83 percent growth.
Another feature of 2013 for the Azerbaijani insurance market was its threefold growth rate running ahead of the national economy where the country's GDP increased by 5.8 percent. As a result, the insurance sector's share in Azerbaijan's GDP increased from 0.64 percent in 2012 to 0.71 percent in 2013.
"Moreover, the insurance market grew more or less evenly in 2013," he said. "The lack of sudden changes testifies to the fact that this growth was not associated with large insurance contracts."
"The ratio between payments and fees increased," he said. "This ratio was 27.4 percent in 2012. It increased to 30.27 percent in 2013."
There are 28 insurance and one reinsurance companies in Azerbaijan.
The official exchange rate is 0.7844 AZN/USD on Jan. 22.
Translated by NH
Edited by SM