Insurance, record profits of EUR 8 billion in 2023

Record profits for the insurance sector last year: reached EUR 8 billion, with exponential growth compared to the EUR 2.3 billion posted in 2022 for +5.7 billion, and a return on equity (Roe) of 10.5%, back to pre-Covid levels. This is the finding of a report by the Studies & Research Office of the Fisac CGIL, based on Ania data for the 2023 financial statements. The insurance sector, reads the Fisac CGIL report, has in particular recovered a very strong profitability in the Life sector, which generated EUR 5.5 billion in profits compared to the loss of EUR 0.4 billion in 2022.

"The absolutely positive elements that emerge from the analysis, in terms of profitability and the solidity of the sector, confirm how the sector's workers have worked to the best of their ability, with professionalism and dedication in a year that was in any case difficult," observes the general secretary of Fisac CGIL, Susy Esposito. "This must form the basis for significant recognition for the staff, starting with the next contractual renewals, at first and second level".

In detail, growth in the life business was maintained despite the continuation of strong geo-political tensions and climatic events. Phenomena, the latter of which had an impact on the profitability of Non-Life business, which nevertheless generated profits of EUR 2.5 billion, in line with the 2022 figure of EUR 2.3 billion. Last year, in fact, Italy recorded an all-time high in insured losses, with more than EUR 6 billion, of which EUR 5.5 billion was caused by atmospheric events and EUR 800 million by floods in Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany. This, the report points out, is a record volume of claims compared to an average in recent years of EUR 2 billion. In 2023, the Fisac CGIL analysis goes on to explain, total premium income from direct Italian business reached 129.2 billion euro, equal to 6.2% of GDP, substantially confirming the figure for 2022 (129.9 billion euro).

Returning to the Life sector, the Fisac CGIL Studies & Research Office highlights how the 2023 profits, at EUR 5.5bn, were achieved despite the fact that rising rates continued to encourage policyholders to surrender their policies. Indeed, surrenders grew by 63% and premium income fell by 3.3% to EUR 91.2bn, driven by a sharp decline in unit-linked premiums (-32%), partly offset by growth in traditional products (+9.2% for Branch I). The segment's profitability increased strongly from slightly negative in 2022 to 12.6%, partly due to recovering market prices of assets.

With regard to the decrease in Life premiums at the end of 2023, again from Ania data, it is noted that instead in the first five months of 2024 new Life premiums issued reached EUR 36.7 billion, an increase of 15.6% compared to the same period in 2023, when an annual decrease of 6.3% was instead observed. On the whole, the sector was confirmed to be very solid, and, as Fisac CGIL reports, shows almost stable solvency ratios (Solvency capital requirement II - Scr Ratio), remaining at an absolutely safe level of 259% at the end of 2023, compared to 247% in December 2022.