Bulgarian insurers H1 gross premiums fall 2.5%

The half-year gross premium income of the general insurers operating in Bulgaria decreased by 3.0% to 667.9 million levs, data released by the Financial Supervision Commission showed.

Bulgaria's general insurance market was dominated by general motor insurance and mandatory third-party liability insurance policies for motor vehicles, which jointly accounted for 70.4% of total premiums in the first six months of the year.

Life insurers posted a combined premium income of 126.6 million levs through June, up by 0.6% on the year.

The gross premium income from voluntary health insurance rose by 7.3% to 26.4 million levs in the January-June period.

A total of 199,908 Bulgarians had signed voluntary health insurance plans as of end-June, compared to 201,087 a year earlier.

In the first half of 2012, thirty-four insurers operated in Bulgaria, of which 18 were general insurers and 16 were life insurance companies.

(1 euro = 1.95583 Bulgarian levs)