Rural insurance is expanding through microinsurance, but coverage remains uneven across regions and product lines. Reported microinsurance products covered 344 million people across 37 countries and generated USD 6.2 billion in written premiums in 2023. The number of people covered was 70% higher than three years earlier, according to The Landscape of Microinsurance 2024.
Contents
- Rural and inclusive insurance market scale
- Agricultural, livestock and climate insurance coverage
- Rural insurance premium levels
- Rural insurance claims and customer value
- Rural insurance distribution and access
- How to interpret the statistics
Rural and inclusive insurance market scale
The latest available market-scale figures show a large reported reach, although they cover multiple forms of microinsurance rather than rural insurance alone. In 2023, reported products covered 344 million people across 37 countries and produced USD 6.2 billion in written premiums. Coverage was 70% higher in 2023 than in 2020. These figures are reported in The Landscape of Microinsurance 2024, and the measurement period is 2023 unless stated otherwise.
Earlier landscape research provides a useful baseline, but its scope and reporting population differ. The 2020 landscape received performance data from 194 insurance providers in 27 countries, with the performance period identified as 2019. Those participating providers reported between 41 million and 102 million people covered. That range represented 3% to 7% of the low- and middle-income population in the countries studied.
When publicly available India and Allianz data were included, the estimated number covered increased to between 162 million and 253 million people across 28 countries. The expanded estimate represented 6% to 10% of the low- and middle-income population in those countries. Participating insurers collected USD 1.06 billion in microinsurance premiums across 27 countries in 2019. These figures come from The Landscape of Microinsurance 2020; the ranges and estimates should not be read as a directly comparable time series with the 2023 total.
Africa-specific figures show both the scale and the still-limited penetration of the market. In 2017, African microinsurance products covered 15 million lives, nearly 2% of the continent’s estimated 700 million people in the low-income bracket. African microinsurance products generated USD 420 million in total premiums in 2017, representing less than 1% of overall insurance premiums. The source for these figures is Landscape of Microinsurance in Africa 2018: Focus on Selected Countries.
Agricultural, livestock and climate insurance coverage
Agricultural and climate-related products accounted for a relatively small share of the people covered in the 2019 reporting period, despite their relevance to rural households. Across all regions, crop products covered 0.1 million people, while livestock products covered 0.8 million. Property products covered 1.5 million people, and climate and natural-disaster products covered 2.1 million people.
Premium totals show a different scale by product. Crop products generated USD 1.2 million in premiums across all regions. Livestock products generated USD 4.0 million, property products generated USD 19.2 million, and climate and natural-disaster products generated USD 36.1 million. These 2019 figures are reported in The Landscape of Microinsurance 2020.
| Product category | People covered | Premiums | Measurement period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crop | 0.1 million | USD 1.2 million | 2019 |
| Livestock | 0.8 million | USD 4.0 million | 2019 |
| Property | 1.5 million | USD 19.2 million | 2019 |
| Climate and natural disaster | 2.1 million | USD 36.1 million | 2019 |
The product totals should be interpreted as reported coverage and premiums across all regions in the landscape, not as a complete census of rural insurance. They also should not be combined into an unsupported estimate of total rural households protected, because one person may be associated with more than one product and the product definitions differ.
Climate protection also had a forward-looking benchmark. The InsuResilience Global Partnership set an ambition to cover 150 million people against climate-related disasters through microinsurance by 2025. This is a 2025 target, not a measured result. It is documented in The Landscape of Microinsurance 2020.
Rural insurance premium levels
Premium statistics help show what different rural and inclusive insurance products cost, but medians and averages describe different things. In Africa, the median premium per life covered for crop insurance was USD 14.36 in 2017. The corresponding median for livestock insurance was USD 9.49. The 2017 crop and livestock figures are from Landscape of Microinsurance in Africa 2018: Focus on Selected Countries.
The same Africa source reported an average premium per life covered of USD 6.30 in 2014, excluding South Africa. It also gave a 2017 estimate of approximately USD 10 per low-income person for one microinsurance product in the 2018 landscape. The average, median and estimated figure have different definitions and dates, so they should not be treated as interchangeable.
For the 2019 reporting period, the median premium per person covered across Africa was USD 14 per year. Product-level African medians varied considerably: stand-alone life products had a median premium of USD 56.88 per person covered, while credit-life products had a median of USD 21.90. Personal accident, funeral and health products each had median premiums below USD 10 per person covered.
Regional comparisons from the same landscape show a median premium of USD 8.80 per person covered in Asia and USD 18.92 in Latin America and the Caribbean. In Latin America and the Caribbean, health products had the lowest recorded regional premium at USD 10 per person covered.
| Region or product | Median premium per person covered | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Africa, all reported products | USD 14 per year | 2019 |
| Asia, all reported products | USD 8.80 | 2019 |
| Latin America and the Caribbean, all reported products | USD 18.92 | 2019 |
| Africa, stand-alone life | USD 56.88 | 2019 |
| Africa, credit life | USD 21.90 | 2019 |
| Africa, crop insurance | USD 14.36 per life | 2017 |
| Africa, livestock insurance | USD 9.49 per life | 2017 |
All 2019 regional and product medians in this section are reported in The Landscape of Microinsurance 2020, while the crop and livestock medians are reported in Landscape of Microinsurance in Africa 2018: Focus on Selected Countries.
Rural insurance claims and customer value
Claims ratios indicate the share of premium associated with claims, but they are not a complete measure of customer value or insurer performance. In 2019, the median claims ratio was 28% in Africa, 25% in Asia, 10% in Latin America and the Caribbean, and 23% across all regions. Products with claims ratios in single digits accounted for 23% of reported products in Africa, 34% in Asia, 51% in Latin America and the Caribbean, and 33% across all regions.
Median claims rejection rates were 1.7% in Africa, 2.4% in Asia, 7.0% in Latin America and the Caribbean, and 3.1% across all regions in 2019. The median reported claims turnaround time was 4 days in Africa. Asia’s average claims turnaround time was 14 days. The difference between a median and an average matters when comparing these two turnaround figures.
Across all regions in 2019, median claims ratios varied by product: 30% for crop, 39% for livestock, 33% for credit life, 19% for health, 20% for life, and 22% for property products. Livestock and crop products therefore had higher reported median claims ratios than health, life and property products in this comparison, but the figures do not establish causation.
Africa’s earlier product figures provide additional context. In 2017, the median claims ratio was 54% for crop insurance and 71% for livestock insurance. Across all product lines, Africa’s median claims ratio was 30% in 2017. The same source reported a median claims ratio of 25% in 2014 and 44% in 2011. These historical figures are from Landscape of Microinsurance in Africa 2018: Focus on Selected Countries, and they should not be presented as independently verified legacy observations.
Rural insurance distribution and access
Distribution channels are central to rural access because products must reach customers beyond conventional urban insurance offices. In Africa in 2019, agents were used in the distribution strategy for 69% of reported microinsurance products. Brokers were used for 44%, microfinance institutions for 25%, aggregators for 21%, and community organisations or associations for 15%.
Nontraditional and partnership channels were also present, though less frequently in the reported product strategies. NGOs were used for 7% of African products, and mobile network operators were used for 3%. These percentages describe the share of reported products using each channel; they are not mutually exclusive and should not be added to produce a total market share.
The earlier Africa landscape measured mobile network operator distribution differently. In 2014, MNO-distributed programs accounted for 13% of identified African microinsurance lives covered but only 1% of total African microinsurance premiums. The contrast between lives and premiums suggests a difference in program scale or premium value, but the available figures do not identify the cause.
The 2019 channel statistics are reported in The Landscape of Microinsurance 2020, and the 2014 MNO figures are from Landscape of Microinsurance in Africa 2018: Focus on Selected Countries.
How to interpret the statistics
The strongest recent scale signal is the 2023 report of 344 million people covered across 37 countries and USD 6.2 billion in written premiums. The most detailed rural-product comparison in the available figures is older: it covers 2019 reporting, with crop, livestock, property, and climate or natural-disaster products measured across all regions.
Three cautions are important when using these rural insurance statistics. First, “microinsurance” is broader than rural insurance, so market totals should not be described as rural-only totals. Second, country coverage, provider participation, product definitions and reporting methods vary between the 2019, 2020, 2017 and 2023 publications. Third, targets and estimates must remain clearly labeled: the 150 million climate-protection figure was a 2025 ambition, the 2019 population figures included ranges and expanded estimates, and the approximately USD 10 Africa premium was identified as an estimate.