Turkey's insurance sector grows by 27 percent

ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News

Turkey’s insurance sector grew by 27.3 percent in the first quarter. However, 500,000 new people participated in private pensions in the first five months.

Turkey’s insurance sector grew by 27.3 percent in the first quarter of this year in comparison to the same period a year earlier, according to figures revealed by the Insurance Association of Turkey (TSB).

As the Turkish economy grew above expectations, rising by 3 percent in the first quarter of this year compared with the same period last year, the insurance sector showed a considerable increase.

TSB announced that the insurance sector’s premium production rose to 6.5 billion Turkish Liras in the first quarter, from 5.1 billion liras in the same period a year earlier, as it posted a 27.3 percent hike. While 5.6 billion liras of the premium production were related to types of insurance other than life insurance, such as traffic, house, work place, 900 million liras was brought in by life insurance.

The insurance companies’ growth reflected on their profitability. The sector’s profits reached 162.6 million liras from 128.7 million liras, with a 27 percent increase in this period. Also, their total accounting profits jumped to 192 million liras with a 44 percent increase.

Private pension applications rise

The number of new participants in the private pension system reached 506,211 in the first five months of this year, according to figures revealed by the Pension Monitoring Center.

Anadolu Hayat Emeklilik (Pension) general manager Mete Uğurlu said it was the highest annual increase in the system, which began 10 years ago. Uğurlu said the total number of the participants would reach 4 million by the end of this year.

Uğurlu also said the new private pension system, which has been in effect since Jan. 1 and assures a 25 percent state contribution, played an important role in this increase. “The state contribution paid to the participant reached more than 380 million liras. It will increase to more than 500 million liras by the end of June.”