Global marine insurance premiums rise, IUMI says

GLOBAL marine insurance premium income rose by 5.5% in 2025 to USD 42.6 billion, according to new market analysis from the International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI).

The increase, however, was said to conceal a soft market across most marine insurance business lines.

Currency movements, increased capacity and competitive pressures have all contributed to underlying market conditions remaining challenging.

Global premium income in 2025 was distributed across the major marine insurance regions as per below:

• Europe 46.5%
• Asia/Pacific 30.8%
• Latin America 10%
• North America 7.2%
• Middle East 3.5%
• Africa 2.1%.

Transport/cargo was the largest business line, making up 57% of global premiums, followed by ocean hull at 24.7%, offshore energy at 11.1% and marine liability, excluding P&I business covered by the International Group of P&I Clubs, at 7.3%.

IUMI chief analyst Veith Huesmann said changes in marine insurance premium income were generally driven by factors such as global trade volumes and commodity prices for cargo, vessel values for hull and oil prices and activity levels in the offshore energy sector.

“Although we report an increase in global premium income, 2025’s reporting figures are heavily supported by exchange rate effects,” Mr Huesmann said.

“The weakness of the US dollar has had a significant impact on the global figures, with major reporting currencies appreciating by around 7-13%.”

Once currency effects are considered, the market was said to remains soft across all major business lines, with increased capacity adding to competitive pressure in most sectors, he said.

More broadly, tariffs had not acted as the brake on global trade that some commentators had predicted, while “stronger-than-expected global GDP growth has been broadly positive for marine insurance”.

“We can also observe first signs of the AI race with high value semiconductors being traded. An effect that we’ll observe even more so in next year’s figures,” Mr Huesmann said.

He said the most significant market development was in Asia, where premium income had grown steadily since 2016, with China “firmly in the driving seat”.

“European growth has continued but is increasingly being outpaced by Asia,” he said.

Key IUMI findings

Cargo

Cargo insurance continues to account for the largest share of the global marine insurance premium base. In 2025, cargo premiums reached USD 24.2 billion, representing 57% of the global total and an increase of 6.9% on 2024.

Ocean Hull

Global ocean hull premium income reached USD 10.5 billion in 2025, an increase of 9.4% on the previous year. Europe remains the dominant market, accounting for 51.3% of global ocean hull premiums. The gap between Europe and its closest competitor, Asia, has continued to widen since 2020.

Offshore Energy

Global offshore energy premiums reached USD 4.82 billion in 2025, virtually unchanged from the previous year, with growth of just 0.1%. The UK continues to dominate the global offshore energy market, accounting for a stable 62.7% share of premiums.

The UK also accounts for around 30% of the global renewables insurance market which is rough estimate of where the market stands. An increasing share of renewables is likely in coming years.

According to IUMI, the global energy sector is entering a significant investment cycle, driven by energy security concerns, geopolitical tensions and the transition towards lower-carbon energy sources.

“This is increasing both the value and complexity of risks facing insurers,” IUMI stated.

“At the same time, inflation, rising claims costs, excess capacity and competitive pricing continue to place pressure on profitability.”