DUBAI, United Arab Emirates: Demographic, economic and regulatory developments in Algeria appear to bode well for the country’s insurance market, which looks primed for growth, expansion, foreign investment and profitability, according to a new report from AM Best.
In its new Best’s Market Segment Report, “Algeria’s Insurance Market Primed for Growth and Expansion,” AM Best notes several of these potential drivers of growth help set Algeria’s insurance segment apart from those of other countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, bringing advantages and challenges.
The report goes on to observe that Algeria’s insurance market continues to recover from the contraction of premium volumes during the COVID-19 pandemic. While an insurance penetration rate of less than 1% of gross domestic product (GDP) is still very low compared with regional peers and the world average of 6.8%, it indicates that the market has potential to grow.
Nevertheless, AM Best notes that there remain obstacles and structural issues to be overcome for the market to further develop. The absence of a risk-based solvency framework hinders effective monitoring of the diverse risks insurers face as they grow their business volume, while the cultural perception of insurance in Algeria remains poor: insurance is still often perceived as an additional form of taxation by the population.
Members of AM Best’s insurance ratings and analytics team will share their latest perspectives on the reinsurance industry, trend observations in the Algerian insurance marketplace, and discuss Best’s National Scale Ratings (NSR), during an upcoming market briefing taking place in the African nation. The briefing is scheduled for Thursday, 10 April 2025, beginning at 10 a.m. (CEST) at the Hôtel El Aurassi in Alger Centre. For more information, please visit AM Best’s Insurance Market Briefing – Algiers.