Azernews.Az

Türkiye Insurance Association (TSB) Chairman Uğur Gülen has reviewed the performance of the insurance sector in 2025 and outlined its targets for the coming period. Stating that 2025 has been a very strong year for the insurance industry, Gülen said this assessment can be made by examining several key indicators.

Sharing premium production statistics as of the end of November, Gülen said, “We have reached premium production exceeding 1 trillion Turkish lira. If this trend continues, we will close the year with premium production of more than 1.2 trillion lira. This corresponds to premium growth of over 40 percent in 2025. Assuming inflation ends around the 30 percent level, this shows that we will complete the year with premium growth above inflation.”

Gülen projected that total premium production in the non-life and life-pension sectors would reach $30 billion by the end of the year, noting that this would mean the insurance sector’s penetration rate reaching 2.5 percent. He emphasized that this level aligns with the goal of insurance contributing 2.5 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

“However, we have a destination we still need to reach. We do not consider 2.5 percent sufficient; we want to raise this to 5 percent. I hope that by 2030, we will see such a figure,” Gülen said.

Referring to data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK), Gülen recalled that total health expenditures in Türkiye reached approximately 2.4 trillion lira as of the end of last year. He noted that 80 percent of these expenditures were covered by the public sector, 17 percent by citizens, and only 3 percent by private health insurance and supplementary funds.

Drawing attention to the growth potential of private health insurance, Gülen said: “If we could increase this 3 percent share to 6 percent, our health insurance sector would double in size. Doubling private health insurance would also mean growth for private hospitals and private service providers. Every 1 percentage point increase in private health insurance reduces public budget expenditures by $1 billion. If we raise the share from 3 percent to 6 percent today, public spending would decrease by $3 billion.”

He stressed that a $3 billion reduction in public expenditures would be highly significant, noting that investments made in TOGG, Türkiye’s domestic electric vehicle initiative, are estimated at around $3 billion.

“If a major production facility were established using the savings generated here, this would be one of the clearest indicators of how significant a contribution it could make to the country’s economy. By reducing the burden on the public sector and shifting health expenditures from the public to the private sector, we would essentially be killing two birds with one stone. This would also help ease inflationary pressure,” Gülen said.

Turning to earthquake-related expenditures, Gülen highlighted the costs incurred following the Kahramanmaraş-centered earthquakes, stating that the total economic loss caused by the disasters amounted to $105 billion, with nearly $100 billion covered by the public sector. Only $5–6 billion of the losses were paid by the insurance sector.

Gülen warned that a potential Marmara earthquake could result in damage four times greater. “In the event of a Marmara earthquake, an economic loss of $350–400 billion could emerge. Currently, only $35 billion of this is insured. The solution is to increase insurance penetration and ensure 100 percent coverage under DASK,” he said.