The insurance industry is a key component of the economy by virtue of the amount of premiums it collects, the scale of its investment and, more fundamentally, the essential social and economic role it plays in covering personal and business risks.

This annual publication provides major official insurance statistics for all OECD countries. The reader will find information on the diverse activities of this industry and on international insurance market trends.

For the first time an analytical chapter including data from OECD members and selected additional economies has been included. This additional chapter highlights the underlying reasons for the trends in gross premium growth and claims developments between 2010 and 2011, and presents key performance indicators.

The data, which are standardised as far as possible, are broken down under numerous sub-headings, and a series of indicators makes the characteristics of the national markets more readily comprehensible. This publication is an essential tool for civil servants, professionals and academics working in the insurance field.

The data in this publication are also available on the OECD iLibrary under the title OECD Insurance Statistics (http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/ins-data-en).