Largest reinsurers worldwide 2018, by net premiums written

It was found that the German reinsurer Munich Re was the second largest reinsurer worldwide in 2018. The net premiums written by Munich Re amounted to approximately 35.81 billion U.S. dollars. Swiss Re was the largest reinsurer in 2018 with 36.41 billion U.S. dollars in net premiums.

Who are Munich Re?

Munich Re Group was founded in 1880 and is headquartered, unsurprisingly, in Munich, Germany. The gross reinsurance premiums written by the company has steadily grown year-on-year since 2008. The number of employees worldwide has gradually decreased during the same period.

Reinsurance losses

The net premiums written by the largest reinsurers globally mostly increased between 2016 and 2017, with the exception of Swiss Re. Reinsurers take on a portion of the risk portfolios of insurers, which reduces the losses suffered by insurers in the case of large insurance claims, e.g. after property damage from a hurricane. The reinsurance losses incurred by Munich Re were especially high in 2011 and 2017, due to the earthquakes and flooding of 2011 and the 2017 hurricanes.