APRA releases general insurance statistics for December 2022

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has released its Quarterly General Insurance Performance Statistics and Quarterly General Insurance Institution-level Statistics publications for the December 2022 quarter.

The Quarterly General Insurance Performance Statistics publication provides industry aggregate summaries of financial performance, financial position, capital adequacy and key ratios. The publication also includes detailed statistics at a class-of-business level, a breakdown of operating income and expenses, and more granular solvency information.

For the year ended 31 December 2022, the industry reported a net profit after tax of $2.3 billion and a return on net assets of 7.2 per cent. This was an increase relative to the prior year profit result due to stronger underwriting results, whch were partly offset by large investment losses. The improvement in industry underwriting results was driven by an increase in gross earned premiums across all classes of business. Gross claims expenses also increased and were attributed to higher claims costs arising from catastrophe events throughout the year, most notably, the NSW and SEQ Flooding event in the March quarter. For the year ended 31 December 2022, the industry recorded total investment losses amounting to $1.7 billion. This was driven by unrealised losses on interest bearing investments due to bond yield increases throughout 2022. 

The industry PCA coverage ratio increased in the year ended 31 December 2022 to 1.74x, up from the ratio of 1.70x reported for the same period last year.

Key performance statistics for the general insurance industry in the year ended 31 December:

Key ratios for the general insurance industry:

The Quarterly General Insurance Institution-level Statistics publication contains individual insurer information about financial performance, financial position, capital adequacy and key ratios. The quarterly performance statistics of insurers may be impacted by factors outside of their control, such as natural catastrophe events, as well as those driven by their internal processes, such as the timing of actuarial valuations. Users should take these factors into account when interpreting the statistics.

Copies of the 31 December 2022 quarterly publications are available on APRA’s website at: Quarterly general insurance statistics.