Cairo – Mubasher: The Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority (EFSA) said Tuesday that gross insurance premiums recorded EGP 21 billion during January-November 2016, according to Tuesday’s statement.

Life insurance premiums paid until November 2016 increased 39% year-on-year to EGP 14.8 billion from EGP 10.6 billion, the statement revealed.

The real estate insurance premiums rose 16% over the same period to EGP 16 billion, compared with EGP 5.5 billion for the year-ago period.

Automobile insurance premiums accounted for the lion share (+30%) in the first ten months of 2016, followed by fire insurance, medical insurance, and accident insurance with 17%, 15%, and 12% respectively.

Insurance firms paid EGP 5 billion compensations for individuals over the first ten months of 2016, compared with EGP 3.7 billion for the year-ago period, Sherif Samy, EFSA’ Chairman, added.

In September 2016, Moody's Investors Service said the Egyptian insurance market is likely to witness strong premium and profit growth in the coming 12-18 months, backed by the country's ongoing economic recovery.

"The Egyptian insurance market may be small but is one of the fastest growing in the world with plenty of untapped potential," says Mohammed Ali Londe, an Assistant Vice President at Moody's, expecting the market to expand in case of no future political or economic upheavals, cementing profitability to post-revolution performance.