Health | Insurance Europe

Growing role for health insurers

Private health insurers provide individuals or groups with policies to cover the medical costs of illness or accidents. In some cases, they offer other elements, such as critical illness or disability cover.

The role of private health insurers is becoming ever more significant as a result of Europe’s ageing populations and increasing strains on national healthcare systems. Total European health premiums grew 6.8% to €149bn in 2019.

EU member states are responsible for the organisation of their healthcare systems. Nevertheless, legislative developments at European level can have a significant direct or indirect impact on private health insurers, so Insurance Europe monitors and engages in any EU-level developments.

Health claims


	Health claims paid, €bn	Growth rate, %
2009	79.7
2010	83.8	3.8
2011	89.3	6.2
2012	86.4	-3.6
2013	94.1	9.3
2014	94.7	0.4
2015	100.9	5.3
2016	102.6	2.6
2017	104.4	2.6
2018	108.5	4
Colour	#f78f1e	#000000
url	/node/4321	/node/4321

Candlestick

Hover over the bars for each data point, or click on a bar to see health claims by country data.

Notes:
Nominal €-values at current end-of-year exchange rates
Nominal %-growth at constant end-of-year exchange rates
Figures are for Domestic Market (business written on home territory by domestic companies, including subsidiaries + 3rd country branches), unless stated otherwise
For national specificities, please, see country breakdown chart
Size of the sample (as % of total premiums): 99.51%

Health premiums


Total	Health premiums, €bn	Growth rate, %
2009	101.6
2010	108.4	5.1
2011	113.3	4.2
2012	115.9	2
2013	118.5	2.6
2014	120.2	1.1
2015	125.8	3.4
2016	128.4	2.9
2017	131.5	3.5
2018	137.8	4.9
Colour	#f78f1e	#000000
url	/node/4231	/node/4231

Candlestick

Hover over the bars for each data point, or click on a bar to see health premiums by country data.

Notes:
Nominal €-values at current end-of-year exchange rates
Nominal %-growth at constant end-of-year exchange rates
Figures are for Domestic Market (business written on home territory by domestic companies, including subsidiaries + 3rd country branches), unless stated otherwise
For national specificities, please, see country breakdown chart
Size of the sample (as % of total premiums): 98%