Hong Kong’s general insurance underwriting profit jumped 253.1% in the first half of 2026, the Insurance Authority (IA) reported on October 23, 2026, as the city’s insurance sector recorded total gross premiums of HK$573.6 billion across all lines, a 35.5% year-on-year increase.
The figures extend a growth streak that saw full-year 2025 gross premiums reach HK$827 billion, up 29.7% from the prior year. But the headline numbers mask a divergence between business lines that has direct implications for brokers and intermediaries operating in or through the Hong Kong market.
The sharpest movement in the IA’s H1 2026 data came from general business underwriting. Overall underwriting profit reached HK$5.8 billion, up 253.1%, within a total operating profit of HK$9.6 billion (up 48.1%). Total gross premiums for general business rose 9.1% to HK$63.7 billion.
The swing was driven primarily by onshore pecuniary loss business, which includes mortgage guarantee. That line recovered from a HK$0.3 billion loss to a HK$3.1 billion profit, a HK$3.4 billion turnaround in a single category.
Stephanie Mi, senior financial analyst at AM Best, said in a December 2025 market segment report that “the overall performance of Hong Kong’s non-life market is driven by factors such as increased consumer awareness” and ongoing regulatory initiatives. She also noted that the shift to Hong Kong’s risk-based capital (HKRBC) framework “is expected to help insurers manage equity investment exposure.”
For brokers, a line that was loss-making a year ago is now among the most profitable. That shift may affect underwriting appetite and the terms available to intermediaries placing pecuniary loss and financial lines business in Hong Kong.
Read more: Hong Kong insurance market extends growth run as data gap widens
New office premiums for long-term business, excluding retirement scheme business, reached HK$275.2 billion, up 58.4%. Participating business was the engine, totalling HK$245.4 billion (up 63.7%). Linked individual business also grew, rising 73.7% to HK$12 billion.
Approximately 33,000 qualifying deferred annuity policies were issued during the period, contributing HK$2.1 billion, or 0.8% of total individual business premiums.
Total revenue premiums of in-force business stood at HK$509.9 billion (up 39.7%), though retirement scheme business moved in the opposite direction, falling 16.7% to HK$22.2 billion.
Claims and benefits paid under long-term business fell 6.3% to HK$179.8 billion. That figure included lapsation and surrender benefits of HK$88.8 billion and other claims and benefits of HK$91 billion.
Reinsurance inward business posted gross premiums of HK$32.1 billion (up 15.8%), with offshore property damage business the largest contributor at HK$10.7 billion. Offshore accident and health business grew 56.7% to HK$7.2 billion.
The overall reinsurance inward underwriting profit rose 317.5% to HK$1.1 billion. That marks a recovery from full-year 2025, when IA data showed reinsurance inward business had swung to a HK$400 million underwriting loss.
For brokers placing reinsurance or working with clients whose cover is supported by Hong Kong-domiciled capacity, the improved results could signal more stable terms in offshore property and accident and health lines.
Fitch Ratings maintained a neutral outlook for Asia-Pacific insurance in 2026, citing capital buffers and disciplined underwriting as offsets to rising claims costs. But it flagged narrowing non-life underwriting margins across the region as loss ratios rise, partly linked to supply-chain disruption from geopolitical tensions.
Read more: Hong Kong plan puts new insurance markets on brokers’ radar
The IA has withheld separate mainland visitor policyholder statistics since Q1 2025, stating it is reviewing the scope and criteria for collecting non-local policyholder data. Cross-border demand from mainland Chinese buyers accounted for roughly 30% of new business premium in 2024, according to an RGA analysis published in December 2025.
Hong Kong recorded 20.56 million mainland visitor arrivals in the first half of 2026, a 16% increase, according to figures from the Hong Kong Tourism Board reported by The Standard. The correlation between visitor traffic and insurance sales is well established, but without the IA’s breakdown, brokers and analysts cannot quantify how much of the current premium growth is attributable to cross-border demand.
As of 30 June 2026, total assets under long-term business were HK$5,831.5 billion (net assets: HK$799.2 billion), while general business held HK$358.5 billion in total assets (net assets: HK$139.8 billion).
