IRB+Intelligence: insurance sector earned R$ 32.5 billion in 1Q21, increase of 12.2%

Published in: May 24, 2021

The seventh edition of IRB+Market Bulletin, a report in Portuguese from the IRB+Intelligence platform, shows a positive change in the insurance market in the first quarter of 2021. The analysis, with a focus on damage, liability and personal insurance, indicates that the sector recorded a record volume and earned R$ 32.5 billion in the first three months of the year, 12.2% more than in the same period in 2020. Separately, sales in March closed at R$ 11.5 billion, an increase of 14% in comparison with the same month last year. It is the tenth consecutive month of growth.

In March, the Life segment, which represented 36% of the sector's revenue in the first quarter, registered R$ 4.2 billion; Auto R$ 3.1 billion; Corporate Damage and Liability R$ 2 billion; Individual Damage R$ 956 million; Rural R$ 858 million; and Credit and Guarantee R$ 403 million. In the first three-month period of 2021, the insurance segments obtained: R$ 11.8 billion (Life), R$ 8.6 billion (Auto), R$ 6.4 billion (Corporate Damage and Liability), R$ 3 billion (Individual Damage), R$ 1.8 billion (Rural), and R$ 1 billion (Credit and Guarantee).

Individual and group Life insurance grew 15.1% in the first quarter of the year, followed by Credit insurance, which holds 32% of the Life segment and grew 4.8%. Corporate Damage and Liability was the segment that most generated revenue for the market in the comparison between the first quarter of 2021 and 2020: R$ 1.4 billion more, followed by Life with an increase of R$ 874 million. Auto, which suffered the impacts of the pandemic, maintained positive growth rates in the last two months of the quarter and closed 1Q21 with growth of 2.9% in relation to 1Q20. For the second consecutive month, there was an increase in sales.

The Corporate Damage and Liability segment achieved the highest historical growth rate since 2014 for the first quarter of a year: 28.3%. Named Perils and Operational Risks was the coverage that most contributed to the performance of this segment (25.7%), followed by Loss of Profits that tripled the turnover. There was a record of revenue in the coverage of Petroleum (R$ 457.8 million), an increase of 69.9%.

Individual Damage insurance closed 16.5% higher between January and March. The products that most contributed to the growth of the segment were Comprehensive Business (growth of 26.1%), Comprehensive Residential (14.3%) and Rent Guarantee (57.4%). The Rural sector, on the other hand, maintained the pace it has been achieving since 2020 and had a positive change of 40.7% in the first quarter of 2021, as well as 44.7% in the month of March. Another highlight was the Credit and Guarantee segment, which increased 9.8% in the quarter, mainly due to the Domestic Credit product (33.4%)

The analysis shows that Claim Expenses on the accrual basis income, in March, increased by 2.1 percentage points (p.p.) in comparison with the same month of 2020. In the quarter, the index also increased: 2.9 p.p. more than the rate recorded in the same period in 2020.

The IRB+Market Bulletin summarizes insurance operations based on public data made available by Susep on May 10, considering damage, liability and personal insurance. The edition also lists the five largest insurance groups by business line. The analysis, which is published monthly, is available in its entirety on the company's website (www.irbre.com). On the same website, IRB also offers the IRB+Insurance Market Dashboard, a dynamic panel developed by the reinsurer with information from the entire sector.