Serbia’s insurance industry entered 2026 with improved financial indicators, including rising premiums, stronger capitalization, and expanding assets, according to sector data for 2025. The market recorded steady profitability and continued growth in both life and non-life segments, while remaining heavily concentrated and significantly below Western European insurance penetration levels.
- Rising capital strength and profitability indicators
- Non-life dominance and limited life insurance expansio
- Market penetration gap versus regional peers
- High concentration among leading insurers
- Foreign ownership and European integration
- Distribution channels and sales structure
- Investment structure and asset allocation patterns
The National Bank of Serbia reported total insurance premium of RSD 191.5bn (≈€1.6bn) in 2025, representing an 8.0% year-on-year increase. Sector assets rose 7.1% to RSD 446.8bn, while capital increased 11.0% to RSD 98.3bn. Technical reserves reached RSD 297.8bn, with full coverage in prescribed asset classes.
Rising capital strength and profitability indicators
The sector’s financial structure showed improving resilience, with capital growth outpacing total asset expansion. This shift strengthened the industry’s buffer capacity amid regulatory convergence toward European standards and increasing exposure to complex risk categories, including climate-related, health, and liability insurance.
Return on assets improved to 3.6% in 2025, up from 3.0% in 2024. Non-life insurers recorded a 4.0% ROA, while life insurers achieved 1.4%.
Non-life dominance and limited life insurance expansio
Market composition remained strongly weighted toward non-life products. In 2025, non-life insurance accounted for 82.2% of total premiums, while life insurance declined to 17.8%, compared with 18.5% in the previous year. Non-life premiums increased 8.9%, while life premiums grew 4.0%, reinforcing the dominance of motor, property, and compulsory insurance categories over long-term savings products.
The largest segment remained motor third-party liability, representing 28.6% of total premiums, followed by property insurance at 18.4% and life insurance at 17.8%. Voluntary health insurance, casco coverage, and other non-life products collectively formed a significant portion of the portfolio structure.
Five categories—voluntary health insurance, casco, fire and property insurance, other property insurance, and motor liability—accounted for 69.7% of total premiums, underscoring the sector’s reliance on compulsory and asset-protection lines.
Market penetration gap versus regional peers
Insurance penetration in Serbia remained unchanged at 1.8% of GDP, still below regional benchmarks such as Croatia at 2.3% and Slovenia at 3.6%. Per capita premium rose to €249 in 2025, compared with €230 in 2024, but remained significantly lower than Croatia (€507) and Slovenia (€1,146).
The gap reflects differences in financial product adoption, household savings behavior, corporate risk management practices, and integration of insurance into credit, employment, healthcare, and investment systems.
High concentration among leading insurers
The market remained highly concentrated, with the five largest insurers controlling 73.1% of total premiums and 74.0% of non-life premiums.
Dunav led the market with RSD 50.0bn (26.1% share), followed by Generali (RSD 35.5bn; 18.5%), DDOR (RSD 20.0bn; 10.5%), Wiener (RSD 19.8bn; 10.4%), and Triglav (RSD 14.6bn; 7.6%). In the life insurance segment, Generali ranked first with RSD 7.9bn (23.1%), followed by Dunav, Wiener, Grawe, and DDOR.
Foreign ownership and European integration
Foreign-owned insurers maintained dominant positions across the sector, accounting for 83.3% of life premiums, 60.1% of non-life premiums, 68.5% of total assets, and 65.8% of employment.
This structure reflects deep integration of Serbia’s insurance industry into European financial groups, even ahead of full regulatory convergence with EU frameworks such as Solvency II and the Insurance Distribution Directive.
The National Bank of Serbia continued preparations in 2025 for a new insurance regulatory framework aligned with EU legislation. The reform process includes harmonization with Solvency II, distribution rules, and updated accounting standards. Under Serbia’s revised EU accession program, a new Insurance Law is scheduled for Q4 2026, expected to reshape capital requirements, governance systems, actuarial methodologies, product oversight, and distribution compliance structures.
Distribution channels and sales structure
Insurance distribution remained multi-channel but heavily weighted toward direct sales. Insurers generated 58.9% of total premiums, followed by brokers at 16.0%, technical inspection centers at 9.0%, banks at 5.6%, and agents at 4.9%.
In life insurance, direct channels accounted for 64.9%, banks for 17.0%, and agents for 12.0%. In non-life insurance, insurers generated 57.6%, brokers 19.1%, and technical inspection centers 11.0%.
Investment structure and asset allocation patterns
Life insurers allocated 91.2% of technical reserve assets to government securities in 2025, while deposits and cash accounted for 2.8% and real estate 2.7%.
The structure reflects conservative investment strategies and limited depth in domestic long-duration capital markets.
The sector continued to rely on external risk transfer mechanisms, particularly in higher-risk categories. The retention ratio for predominantly non-life insurers declined slightly to 76.4%, while life insurers recorded 93.7% retention. Higher levels of reinsurance were observed in aviation, vessel liability, fire and property insurance, goods in transit, general liability, credit insurance, and rail vehicle coverage.
Supervisory activity by the National Bank of Serbia in 2025 included prudential oversight and market conduct monitoring, with emphasis on motor liability insurance, life insurance, supplementary products, and credit insurance. The regulator also identified transparency issues in investment-linked life insurance products, particularly regarding cost structures and value disclosure.
