Insurance Sector Grew by 6.6% in Q3 –NBS

• Insurance Sector Grew by 6.6% in Q3 –NBS

The Nigerian insurance sector grew by 6.69 per cent year-on-year in the third quarter of this year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

The NBS, in its latest gross domestic product report, said the finance and insurance sector consisted of two subsectors, financial institutions and insurance, which accounted for 85.90 per cent and 14.10 of the sector respectively in real terms in Q3 2019.

It said, “As a whole, the sector grew at 3.72 per cent in nominal terms (year on year), with the growth rate of financial institutions at 3.25 per cent while insurance was 6.69 per cent.

“The overall rate was higher than that of Q3 2018 by 5.89 per cent points, and 2.74 per cent points higher than the preceding quarter. Quarter-on-quarter growth rate was –14.16 per cent.”

The sector’s contribution to the overall nominal GDP was 2.40 per cent in Q3 2019, lower than the 2.63 per cent it contributed the previous year, and 3.03 per cent recorded in the preceding quarter.

In real terms, growth in this sector stood at 1.07 per cent, higher by 5.87 per cent from the rate recorded in Q3 2018, and 3.30 per cent higher than the rate recorded in the preceding quarter. Quarter on quarter, growth in real terms stood at –14.17 per cent.

The contribution of finance and insurance to real GDP amounted to 2.49 per cent, lower than the contribution of 2.52 per cent recorded in the third quarter of 2018 by –0.03 per cent, and the 3.17 per cent recorded in Q2 2019 by –0.68 per cent.

Financial institutions under finance and insurance sector grew by 0.61 per cent in Q3 2019 from -3.52 per cent in Q2 2019 and -5.67 per cent in Q3 2018.

Insurance under financial and insurance sector grew by 3.96 per cent in Q3 2019 from 4.48 per cent in Q2 2019 and 1.03 per cent in Q3 2018. Financial and insurance sector contracted by 1.07 per cent in Q3 2019 from -2.24 per cent in Q2 2019 and -4.81 per cent in Q3 2018.