PHNOM PENH, June 6 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's insurance industry recorded a total premium of 93.3 million U.S. dollars in the first quarter (Q1) of 2023, up 5.6 percent from 88.3 million dollars in the same period last year, a report showed on Tuesday.
The growth was generated from 18 general insurers, 14 life insurers, seven micro-insurance companies and one reinsurance firm, the report of the Insurance Regulator of Cambodia (IRC) said.
The gross premium of general insurance market during the January-March period this year was 42.7 million dollars, a year-on-year increase of 6.5 percent, while life insurance premium totaled 48.7 million dollars, up 3.5 percent, and micro-insurance premium amounted to 1.83 million dollars, up 45 percent, the report added.
It said the total amount of claims paid out by the insurers was 5.85 million dollars in the cited period, up 20.6 percent from 4.85 million dollars a year earlier.
According to the report, Cambodia's insurance sector had 1 billion dollars in total assets as of Q1 this year, a year-on-year increase of 9.6 percent.
IRC Director General Bou Chanphirou said the insurance sector has contributed approximately 1.1 percent to the Southeast Asian country's gross domestic product (GDP) per year.
"This shows that the growth of Cambodian insurance sector is still relatively low compared to that of countries in the region and the world," he said. "It indicates that Cambodia's insurance market still has more room to grow." ■