Serbia’s insurance industry entered 2026 with strengthened financial indicators, supported by rising premiums, higher capital levels, asset expansion, and continued profitability. According to the National Bank of Serbia, the sector recorded broad-based growth in 2025, while remaining heavily concentrated and significantly below European benchmarks in insurance depth and household penetration.
Total insurance premium reached RSD 191.5bn (≈€1.6bn) in 2025, an increase of 8.0% year on year. Sector assets rose 7.1% to RSD 446.8bn, while capital increased at a faster pace of 11.0% to RSD 98.3bn. Technical reserves climbed 4.2% to RSD 297.8bn, fully invested in prescribed asset categories.
Capital growth and profitability expansion in 2025
The financial structure of Serbia’s insurance market showed strengthening balance sheets, with capital growth outpacing total asset expansion. This development increased the sector’s buffer capacity as regulatory standards move closer to EU frameworks and as exposure to climate risk, health coverage, and liability insurance expands.
Return on assets improved to 3.6% in 2025, compared with 3.0% in 2024. Non-life insurers generated a higher ROA of 4.0%, while life insurers recorded 1.4%.
Non-life dominance and limited life insurance development
The market structure remained heavily skewed toward non-life products. In 2025, non-life insurance accounted for 82.2% of total premiums, while life insurance fell to 17.8%, down from 18.5% a year earlier. Non-life premiums increased 8.9%, while life premiums rose 4.0%, reinforcing the dominance of compulsory and asset-protection products over long-term savings instruments.
Motor third-party liability remained the largest single line, representing 28.6% of total premiums, followed by property insurance at 18.4% and life insurance at 17.8%. Voluntary health insurance, casco, and other non-life products accounted for the remainder of the portfolio. Five non-life categories—voluntary health insurance, casco, fire and property insurance, other property insurance, and motor liability—represented 69.7% of total market premiums, underscoring the sector’s reliance on compulsory and employment-linked coverage.
Low penetration compared with regional insurance markets
Insurance penetration in Serbia remained stable at 1.8% of GDP in 2025, unchanged from the previous year. This compares with 2.3% in Croatia and 3.6% in Slovenia.
Per capita premium increased to €249, up from €230 in 2024, but remained significantly below Croatia (€507) and Slovenia (€1,146). The gap reflects differences in product usage, household financial planning, corporate insurance adoption, and integration of insurance into credit, employment, and investment systems.
Market concentration among leading insurers
The Serbian insurance sector remained highly concentrated, with the five largest insurers accounting for 73.1% of total premiums and 74.0% of non-life premiums.
Dunav remained the largest insurer 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 led with RSD 7.9bn (23.1%), followed by Dunav, Wiener, Grawe, and DDOR.
Foreign-owned insurers held dominant positions across the sector, including 83.3% of life premiums, 60.1% of non-life premiums, 68.5% of total assets, and 65.8% of employment. This structure reflects the sector’s integration into European insurance groups, even ahead of full alignment with EU regulatory frameworks such as Solvency II and the Insurance Distribution Directive.
Regulatory convergence toward EU insurance standards
The National Bank of Serbia continued preparations in 2025 for a new insurance regulatory framework aligned with EU acquis. The planned framework includes Solvency II, insurance distribution rules, and updated accounting standards.
Under Serbia’s national EU accession program, a new Insurance Law is scheduled for Q4 2026, expected to affect capital requirements, governance systems, actuarial modelling, risk management, product oversight, and distribution conduct.
Distribution structure and sales channels
Insurance distribution remained diversified but predominantly direct. Insurers generated 58.9% of total premiums, followed by brokers at 16.0%, technical inspection centres 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 centres 11.0%.
Investment structure of technical reserves
Life insurers allocated 91.2% of technical reserve assets to government securities in 2025. Deposits and cash represented 2.8%, while real estate accounted for 2.7%.
The allocation reflects conservative investment strategies and the limited depth of domestic long-term capital markets in Serbia. The sector continued to rely on reinsurance for higher-risk categories. The retention ratio for predominantly non-life insurers declined slightly to 76.4%, while life insurers recorded 93.7%.
Higher reinsurance usage was recorded in aviation liability, aircraft insurance, vessel liability, fire and property, goods in transit, general liability, credit insurance, financial losses, and rail vehicle coverage. The National Bank of Serbia expanded supervisory focus in 2025 to include both prudential stability and market conduct. Key areas of oversight included motor liability insurance, life insurance, supplementary products, and credit insurance. The regulator identified issues in transparency of investment-linked life insurance products, particularly regarding cost structures and disclosure of value for money.
