ChandraDhas / istockphoto.com, view of Bogotá, Colombia
After a significant contraction of gross domestic product (GDP) in Latin America in 2016, economic growth in major economies like Brazil and Argentina is bouncing back, sparking optimism among insurers and reinsurers.
An economic contraction in the Latin American region during 2016 of 0.7 percent, according to data provider FocusEconomics, has impacted particularly the non-life business which is strongly linked to the economic development and to the disposable income of households and businesses. The non-life business contracted 3.1 percent across the board in 2016 in dollar terms.
Motor as the main segment in non-life, representing 19.2 percent of total premium, contracted 4.9 percent year on year.
Latin America is going through a difficult moment of recovery, said Luis Sonville, managing director at Talbot Underwriting. But the outlook is improving.
Insurance, Reinsurance, Latin America, MAPRE, Chaucer, Validus Re, Manuel Aguilera, Phil Mayes, Edward Lines, Uwe Fischer, Jorge Beltran, Humberto Cabrera