RIYADH — Saudi Arabia’s Insurance Authority revealed that the insurance sector in the Kingdom recorded a growth of about 14.6 percent during the third quarter of 2023. This brought the value of total written premiums to SR14.9 billion ($3.9 billion), compared to SR13 billion ($3.4 billion) during the same quarter of the previous year. According to the insurance market performance report during the third quarter of 2023, there was an increase in the depth of the insurance sector in non-oil GDP to reach 2.2 percent, compared to 2.1 percent, during the same period, on an annual basis, and this was attributed to the noticeable increase in the gross written premiums. The report showed that the insurance sector’s net income reached SR869.6 million ($231.8 million), compared to 370.6 million ($98.8 million) on an annual basis. The report also showed that the loss rate stabilized at 80.7 percent during the third quarter of 2023, compared to 81.6 percent for the same period last year. The results of insurance services increased from SR255 million ($68 million) during the third quarter of 2022 to SR693.2 million ($184.8 million) in the same quarter of 2023, and net investment income increased from SR314 million ($83.7 million) to SR543.9 million ($145 million). It is noteworthy that Saudi Arabia considers the insurance sector as an important aspect of the economy as one of the pillars of the financial sector development program. The government has worked to enhance the competitive capabilities of insurance companies and raise their contribution to the domestic product, which is expected to have a positive impact on the sector in creating large insurance entities capable of competition and growth. The insurance sector recorded a growth of 27 percent during the year 2022, while the insurance sector index recorded a growth of 55 percent until September of last year 2023, and the size of the insurance sector is more than SR53.4 billion ($14.2 billion). Its participation rate in the gross domestic product is 2.09 percent. It is expected that the Saudi insurance sector will witness great investment opportunities while the sector is expected to witness the establishment of large entities and companies capable of expansion with a growing trend towards corporate mergers.