The European Union, United Kingdom and United States were the top exporters of insurance (including pension services) in 2022, according to data from the World Trade Organization (WTO).
The European Community bloc exported this type of services for a value of 58,767 million dollars in 2022, a year-on-year decrease of 2 percent.
This was followed by the United Kingdom (29,911 million dollars, -5%) and the United States (22,668 million, +5%).
Globally, the insurance industry is extensively regulated and supervised.
According to United Insurance Holdings Corp. insurance regulators generally design insurance rules and regulations to protect the interests of policyholders, and not necessarily the interests of insurers, their shareholders and other investors.
This regulation relates to the authorization of lines of business, capital and surplus requirements, investment limitations, underwriting limitations, affiliate transactions, dividend limitations, changes in control, premium rates, and a variety of other financial and non-financial components of an insurance company’s business.
Further down in the same ranking were the United Arab Emirates ($20,176 million, +13% year-on-year), Switzerland ($8,598 million, +6), Singapore ($7,406 million, +7%) and China ($4,544 million, -14 percent).
Insurance exporters
To put a case in point, in the United States, this industry is subject to extensive regulation and oversight by state insurance departments in all states in which insurance companies are domiciled, as well as in all states in which they are licensed, sell insurance products, issue policies or handle claims.
Each state’s regulations are unique and complex and are subject to change, and certain states may have regulations that conflict with the regulations of other states in which the companies operate.
As a result, insurance companies are subject to the risk that compliance with regulations in one state will not result in compliance with regulations in another state.
The Top 10 exporters also included Mexico ($3,697 million, +2%), India ($3,358 million, 10%) and Japan ($2,121 million, -3%).
