World Insurance

Insurance

 is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent or an uncertain loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment.

An insurer is a company selling the insurance; an insured or policyholder is the person or entity buying the insurance policy. The

insurance

 rate is a factor used to determine the amount to be charged for a certain amount of insurance coverage, called the premium.

Risk management, the practice of appraising and controlling risk, has evolved as a discrete field of study and practice.

An insurance contract promises to make good to the insured a certain sum in consideration for a payment in the form of premium from the insured. The insured receives a contract called the

insurance

policy which details the conditions and circumstances under which the insured will be compensated.

Market integration among the world has largely benefited the financial market. Congruously, the Insurance industry over the world has grown very rapidly. The statistics on the world insurance conducted by Swiss Re show that world insurance premium reached $3.4 trillion in 2005. Premium collections from both life and non-life sources have increased by 3.9 and 0.6 percent respectively. Developed countries over the world have better insurance coverage. But in recent years the developing nations have captured a better market share in the insurance business. In leading countries the insurance business and premiums for 2005 include:

Countries	Non-Life Premiums	Life Premiums	Total Amount
U.S.	$625,838	$517,074	$1,142,912
Japan	100,523	375,958	476,481
U.K.	100,629	199,612	300,241
France	68,162	154,058	222,220
Germany	107,026	90,225	197,251
Italy	47,453	91,740	139,194
South Korea	24,085	58,848	82,933
Canada	44,267	34,456	34,456
Netherlands	29,159	31,914s	61,073
Spains	34,757	25,518	60,275
Source: Swiss Re, sigma, No. 5/2006