Developing insurance industry

Four major trends influenced the insurance industry in the nineties : concentration of insurance markets, as increased competition pushes companies to find a future as "multinational" or niche players; steady growth of the industry, led by life insurers; life insurance domination; leadership of incorporated companies, as the founding principles of mutuals become difficult to uphold under the pressure of competition. Using largely harmonised sets of data for the first time, the second comprehensive report on insurance services in Europe published 8 October 1999 by Eurostat, Statistical Office of the European Communities, sheds light on this evolution.