Insurance industry to grow from next fiscal: Swiss Re

India's insurance industry is likely to witness significant improvement by next fiscal, both in life as well as non-life categories, triggered by health, micro-insurance and innovative products, global reinsurance major Swiss Re said today.

"The non-life segment is expected to grow by 7.9 per cent in 2012 and 8.5 per cent in 2013, while in the life segment is expected to rise by 7.5 per cent in 2012 and by 11 per cent in 2013. The main drivers for this growth will be health, micro-insurance and innovative product offerings," Swiss Re Vice-President Amit Kalra told reporters here after launching Asia economic and insurance market outlook.

However, this growth trend in non-life is lower than that of 2010, as the motor and trade-related lines are likely to see a slight slowdown, he said.

This segment will mainly be driven by premia from the health sector, he said, adding there are huge untapped opportunities in retail personal lines, liability, micro- insurance and agriculture.

Foreign direct investment in retail could have boosted premium for the non-life industry as international companies take insurance for their establishments, Kalra said.

Globally, in the life segment, premia growth will recover, led by India and China, he said. "We expect strong demand for life insurance, protection and group insurance."

Growth will be supported by recovery in unit-linked products, he said, adding there is also down side risks if the capital markets continue to be suppressed.

Meanwhile, global outlook, he said, remains uncertain due to the world economic crisis, but it would still perform better than banks, he said.