Insights + interviews

Asia’s Protection Gap Underlines Need For Greater Insurance Planning

By  |  0 Comments

Asia’s protection gap – measured as the difference between the resources needed and the resources already available for dependents to maintain their living standards in the unfortunate event that a working family member is no longer able to provide – has grown further according to a new report.

The report, from Swiss Re, estimates that the mortality protection gap for the region widened further between 2010 and 2014. The size of the gap increased to US$58 trillion in 2014 from US$42 trillion in 2010 for the 13 Asia-Pacific markets covered by the report.

In many markets the growth of life insurance coverage has lagged behind economic growth, increasing income and the cost of living. The current gap equals about 6.6 times the current amount of life insured in the markets in the report.

Based on current trends, AIA estimates that the gap will continue to grow and increase to a total of US$82 trillion by 2020. In terms of some specific markets, AIA estimates the figures will grow to US$763 billion in Hong Kong, US$570 billion in Singapore, US$46 trillion in China, US$12 trillion in India, US$11 billion in Indonesia, US$528 billion in the Philippines and US$10 billion in Thailand. The widening protection gap underlines the growing need for innovative, compelling and meaningful savings and protection offerings by consumers in markets all around the region.

AIA and Citi, who partnered together at the end of 2013 in signing Asia’s largest bancassurance agreement, said the report was further evidence that more is needed to be done to close the protection gap in the region.

To support this, Citi is launching a campaign initially in six markets – Hong Kong, Singapore, China, Indonesia, India and Philippines. Themed “Have You Done Enough?” the campaign aim is to simplify and explain the risk of under insurance whilst at the same time encouraging clients to assess their insurance needs. The campaign will be conducted through Citi’s over 500 branches in the region and through the bank’s digital banking network in Asia.

 

Comments

comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *