Amidst challenging macroeconomic environment in the country, the Nigerian insurance industry recorded an aggregate sum of N4,791.6trillion in total assets in Q4, 2025, representing 7.4% expansion, relative to the N4,460.2trillion recorded in Q3, 2025.
This was contained in the Insurance Market Performance Report for Q4, 2025 released on Monday by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), with the industry sustaining solid performance across critical areas including premium generation, claims settlement, profitability and aggregate Assets expansion.
Statistics of the market financial position also reported a total sum of N2,602.4 trillion as Assets attributable to non-life business while life insurance accounted for N2,189.2 trillion at the close of the period.
The fourth quarter, 2025 saw the Gross Premium Written reaching a remarkable N2,301.8 trillion, an exceptional performance reflective of the ongoing regulatory measures aimed at fostering market deepening.
This, according to the report, was largely influenced by the Oil & Gas business in the non-life and the growing Annuity funds in the life segments of the market, respectively.
The non-life insurance segment continued to lead the market, contributing 68.4% to the total premium pool, following its pattern in the corresponding quarter of 2024 while the Life Insurance business accounted for 31.6% during the period.
Insights into the non-life category reveals the Oil & Gas business as leading portfolio, representing 30.3% of all the non-life premiums generated.
Fire Insurance followed with a notable position of 20.4% share while Motor Insurance accounted for 16.1% as Miscellaneous, General Accident, Marine and Aviation businesses also contributed 11.9%, 9.5%, 8.7% and 3.2% respectively.
On the other hand, the Life Insurance segment was led by Annuity funds in contrast to the behaviour reported in the prior quarter, contributing about 44.3% of all premiums recorded in the business.
Individual Life business also accounted for 36.2%, while Group Life 19.5% during the quarter under review. A further insight into the Life business is represented by the infographic presented as Chart 3 herein.
Notwithstanding the events within the financial services sector, underwriters exhibited undoubted certainty and confidence, as reflected in the robust retention levels across the market.
The overall market average retention stood at 68.1%, with the Life business achieving about 94.1% and the non-life segment recording a retention ratio of 60.3% during the period.
The condition of improved claims management in the industry has contributed to the growth in gross claims reported in the fourth quarter of 2025, which rose to N724.7 billion, representing about 31.5% of the gross premiums written during the period.
This performance, according to the report, highlights a
strong underwriting capacity within the market and reflects the effectiveness of insurers’ pricing strategies during the quarter.
During the period, the Life Insurance section recorded a notable claims settlement ratio of 65.5%, while the non-life segment achieved a settlement rate of 75.5% of total claims reported during the period under review.
The ratio of net claims paid compared to gross claims reported during the period has demonstrated some strong performance across various business classes.
In the non-life, statistics show that Motor Insurance recorded an outstanding ratio of 88.5%, followed by Miscellaneous at 83.1%, while General Accident stood at 81.2%.
Similarly, Aviation, Fire, Marine and Oil & Gas insurance businesses also reported 80.5%, 75.0%, 68.1% and 61.0% respectively during the quarter.
The explained that the improvements observed across portfolios especially in the Oil & Gas with respect to the claims paid ratio during the period highlights the significantly growing market confidence, capacity and claims settlement quality in spite of the existing low capital prevalent in the market.
Expressing confidence that the ongoing recapitalisation exercise would address even better the gap towards the realisation of the industry’s long-standing potentials of the desired market penetration and, adequate de-risking of the Nigerian economy.
