- Costa Rica, Uruguay, Nicaragua and Argentina lead the year-on-year growth.
- Brazil represents 55 percent of the total revenues for the industry in the region.
The Latin American insurance market continued to expand in 2014, with a nominal mean growth remaining in double digits, at 18.3 percent as compared to 16 percent for the previous year. Discounting the effects of inflation, real mean growth in the sector was 5.2 percent, with the greatest growth, in double digits, occurring in Costa Rica, Uruguay, Nicaragua, and Argentina.
The study entitled The Latin American Insurance Market for 2014, prepared by the Study Centers of Fundación MAPFRE, reflects growth of nearly 4 percent in the non-Life lines, compared to an increase of 1 percent in Life, thanks to good performance in Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina.
Brazil strengthened its position as the indisputable leader of the region with a premium volume in excess of $70 billion. The Brazilian market also experienced real growth of 7 percent, with significant increases in the Life and Non-Life lines, and its net profit of 7,483 million dollars represented 55 percent of total revenues in the Latin American region.
All countries registered nominal growth in local currency (with the exception of Ecuador, which dropped by one percent). Expressed in U.S. dollars, premium growth in the region was 2.7 percent (due to the appreciation of that currency vis-à-vis local currencies), reaching $162 billion.
Table 1. Premium volume fluctuation for 2014 in Latin America (in local currency)
| Nominal and real growth in local curency | ||
| Latin America. % Variation in Premium Volume 2014/2013 | ||
|---|---|---|
| COUNTRY | Nominal Var. | Actual Var. |
| Argentina | 35,1 | 11,6 |
| Bolivia | 7,0 | 1,7 |
| Brazil | 13,8 | 7,0 |
| Chile | 1,6 | 1,6 |
| Colombia | 5,0 | 1,3 |
| Costa Rica | 20,2 | 14,3 |
| Ecuador | 2,6 | -1,0 |
| El Salvador | 4,7 | 4,2 |
| Guatemala | 8,1 | 5,0 |
| Honduras | 6,2 | 0,3 |
| México | 4,6 | 0,5 |
| Nicaragua | 19,0 | 12,3 |
| Panama | 7,9 | 5,2 |
| Paraguay | 14,4 | 7,5 |
| Pera | 12,0 | 8,5 |
| Dominican Republic | 7,5 | 5,8 |
| Uruguay | 22,4 | 13,0 |
| Venezuela | 66,8 | 1,9 |
| General Total | 18,3 | 5,2 |
In turn the aggregate net result for the insurance industry in 2014 was $13.52 billion*, up by 9.3 percent over the previous year. As with the premium figures, the appreciation of the dollar against most of the local currencies influenced this outcome.
*This figure does not include the financial results for Bolivia, Panama and the Dominican Republic, which in 2013 made up 1.1 percent of the region’s net income and have not yet been published.