Summary

The report provides a description of how microinsurance works and a landscape study (detailed quantative overview) of microinsurance in the world's 100 poorest countries. It was developed by the MicroInsurance Centre with the involvement of Quindiem Consulting, several CGAP Working Group on Microinsurance members and other microinsurance experts.
The first part describes the structure and environment of microinsurance, more precisely the different levels of intervention the development of microinsurance needs. This is followed by a discription of the microinsurance supply chain. Finally, it concludes with the question of microinsurance regulation.
The landscape study analyses more than 350 microinsurance products and over 100 social security schemes. Evidence of formal (non-social security microinsurance) was identified in 77 of the 100 countries.
Microinsurance products and services were found to cover 78 million lives 67.2m in Asia (dominated by India and China), 7.8m in the Americas (predominantly in Peru and Colombia) and 3.5m in Africa.
It identified four main types of microinsurers: commercial insurers (38.0m covered lives found), NGOs (37.4m covered lives found), mutuals (professionally-managed member-owned insurers; 2.5m covered lives found) and CBOs (community-based organizations: member owned and member-managed; 0,7m covered lives found).
The research team found that covered lives were 35 million for health, 63m for life, 40m for accidental death and disability and 36m for property.
Some good news that emerges from the landscape survey is that microinsurance for the world's poor is growing fast, with most of its recent growth coming from the private sector. The microinsurers surveyed predicted at least 10% growth over the following year and 100% growth over five years.