Key global data on microinsurance is now even more accessible through a new interactive map, entitled 'World Map of Microinsurance', launched today by the Microinsurance Network and Munich Re Foundation.
Following the unveiling of the Network's annual insider's guide to microinsurance in July, this new dynamic platform will enable insurers and microinsurance practitioners to gain a birds-eye view on the landscape of microinsurance worlwide. Users will also be able to gain insight into microinsurance trends, creating potentially better decision-making at an operational and policy level, by honing in on and extracting sector-specific data by region.
At a glance, the World Map of Microinsurance (WMM) reveals that in Latin America and the Caribben (LAC), microinsurance products cover 7.89% of the population, almost double to that in the African and Asian/Oceanic regions. However, lives insured in LAC are similar to those in the African region in terms of absolute numbers, at 48.6 million and 44.4 million lives insured respectively, whilst in Asia this figure lies at 170.4 million. Data on the most widely insured products is also available through the map, revealing life and accident are at the top across the regions, as well as the countries with the highest insurnace penetration and the growth rate for each.
Executive Director at the Microinsurance Network, Véronique Faber, explained: "The World Map of Microinsurance programme is a key focus for the Network in terms of creating long-term partnerships with regional programme funders, universities and insurers, looking at encouraging data analysis and utilisation to address essential market questions".
"The mission of the WMM project is to collect data on the industry in an unbiased manner, with the objective of showing market potential, monitoring growth, identifying trends, and promoting innovation," continued Dirk Reinhard, Vice Chair at the Munich Re Foundation. It was the Foundation who initiated the series of tri-annual regional landscape studies which provided the data underpinning the WMM.
The Map was also partner funded by Bradesco Seguros Group, whose President, Marco Antonio Rossi, said of the project: "To support the development of the microinsurance sector, reliable and usable data is needed. The WNN provides access to such data, generating market knowledge and faciliating market development and best practices, which can lead to better products and services".
The WMM has been launched in conjunction with 'The Landscape of Microinsurance in Latin America and the Caribbea' report published by the Microinsurance Network and Munich Re Foundation. The study was conducted by the Microinsurance Centre with financial support from Bradesco Seguros, CNseg, IDB, FOMIN, The Government of Luxembourg and the World Bank Group and unearths an $828 million microinsurance business, with over 200 products on the market, across the LAC region.
To view the map, visit www.worldmapofmicroinsurance.org
Photo by The Microinsurance Network
