Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 5
By Fatih Karimov- Trend:
The penetration rate of the Iranian Insurance Industry in last fiscal year(ended March 20) stood at 1.4 percent, Ali Tayebnia, Iran's economy minister said.
Tayebnia made the remarks while addressing the International Conference on Insurance and Development in Tehran, Dec. 5, the official IRNA news agency reported.
Meanwhile the average penetration rate of the insurance in the world reached 6.2 percent in 2014, Tayebnia said.
He added that life insurance penetration rate in Iran was 0.2 percent in last fiscal year, which is so far from the global rate of 3.7 percent.
The Iranian minister further emphasized that insurance industry by providing security can improve social welfare.
He also criticized imposed taxes on insurance, saying almost 40 percent of revenues from premiums goes to taxes and numerous charges in Iran.
Iran is home to an insurance sector that writes over $4 billion in premiums annually equal to around 1.5 percent of GDP.
Gross written premiums as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has shown strong growth in recent years in the country from 0.06 percent in 2008 to 0.15 percent in 2012. The insurance penetration rate is, however, one of the lowest in Western Asia.