Switzerland is the world’s third-largest reinsurance location

Switzerland is one of the leading international locations for reinsurance due to the globally active reinsurance companies based in its financial center of Zurich. This is according to a study developed by the economic research institute BAK Economics on behalf of the Swiss Insurance Association (SIA). It states that Swiss reinsurance companies took in a total of 45.6 billion Swiss francs in gross premiums in 2021.

BAK Economics writes in a press release on the study that by this metric, Switzerland is the world’s third-biggest location for reinsurance companies after the USA and Germany. The economic research institute names access to open reinsurance markets, the regulatory environment, the availability of specialists, and the political and macroeconomic stability as factors in the country’s success. 

Furthermore, Swiss reinsurance companies are above average in terms of productivity. The gross value added of 4.8 billion Swiss francs they generated in 2020 makes up a fifth of the added value of the entire Swiss insurance industry. With this, internationally active reinsurance products have shown significantly greater growth than insurance business focused on the domestic market over the past twenty years. The press release adds that the reinsurance industry will benefit from foreign markets with strong growth in the future as well. hs