Security for the Individual – Growth for Society
We are all exposed to risks. This could include the risk of being involved in a traffic accident, a fire in our home, theft, or long-term illness. Without insur-ance, such events could result in significant financial consequences. Insur-ance makes economic conditions more stable for households and businesses. This contributes to increased security, making households more willing to consume and businesses more willing to invest. In this way, insurance con-tributes to growth in the society. The substantial investments made by insur-ance and occupational pension companies in businesses and infrastructure, among other things, also contribute to increased growth and the transition to a sustainable society.
The idea behind insurance is simple: we share the risks. For this to be possi-ble, conditions need to be met. To begin with, the period when the damage occurs, and ends must be established. The risk of damage must be random and not simultaneously affect many other individuals. Insurance is based on the existence of a larger group of individuals who collectively share the risks, regardless of the diversity of risks. Finally, it must be possible to calculate the probability of the risk occurring again.
Through insurance, households or businesses pay a premium in exchange for insurance companies compensating those affected in the event of an acci-dent. In life insurance and occupational pension companies, households and businesses can sign up for pension or endowment insurance policies that provide a certain future income, such as a pension, in exchange for a pre-mium payment in the present. The saved capital can serve as pension sav-ings but also as a buffer that creates security for the future.
This publication provides an overview of insurance in Sweden and highlights its significance for the national economy and the world. The statistics pre-sented are based primarily on data from Insurance Sweden, the Swedish Financial Supervision Authority, Statistics Sweden, and the Swedish Insur-ance Employers' Association. Statistics are presented to illuminate the Swe-dish insurance market in 2023 and provide a long-term perspective with sta-tistics for multiple years.
• The Swedish insurance industry: the magnitude of payments made by insurance and occupation pension companies to households and businesses.
• Non-life insurance: the number of insurance claims and the amount paid out by non-life insurance companies as compensation for these claims.
• Pension and life insurance: the annual amount paid out in occupa-tional pensions, and the amount of capital households invest in vari-ous investment forms, such as private endowment and private pen-sion insurance.
• Description of the size of investments made by insurance and occu-pational pension companies as well as the assets in which they invest.
