Premium volume and expenses
Premium volume
A detailed disclosure of premium development is included in Note 15. Premiums written – gross in the notes to the consolidated financial statements.
VIG Insurance Group wrote EUR 10,428.5 million in premiums in 2020, thereby keeping premiums stable at the previous year level with a slight increase of 0.3% (2019: EUR 10,399.4 million). It retained EUR 9,415.8 million of the gross premiums written (2019: EUR 9,420.7 million). EUR 1,012.6 million was ceded to reinsurance companies (2019: EUR 978.7 million).
The other property and casualty (+4.7%) and health insurance (+1.4%) lines of business recorded particularly good premium increases in 2020. Premiums growth was especially strong in the Austria (+2.2%), Poland (+5.7%) and Romania (+5.5%) segments. In the Remaining CEE segment, Croatia (+4.0%), and Serbia (+5.5%) showed particularly dynamic premium gains. Overall, the Group generated 60.2% of its premiums outside Austria in 2020.
Net earned premiums rose 0.2%, from EUR 9,317.9 million in 2019 to EUR 9,336.6 million in 2020. Net reinsurance cessions were EUR 1,005.8 million (2019: EUR 944.7 million).
Expenses for claims and insurance benefits
A detailed disclosure of expenses for claims and insurance benefits is included in Note 19. Expenses for claims and insurance benefits – retention in the notes to the consolidated financial statements.
Group expenses for claims and insurance benefits less reinsurers’ share were EUR 7,030.6 million in 2020, representing a year-on-year decrease of 3.2% (2019: EUR 7,262.7 million).
Acquisition and administrative expenses
A detailed disclosure of acquisition and administrative expenses is included in Note 20. Acquisition and administrative expenses in the notes to the consolidated financial statements.
Acquisition and administrative expenses for all consolidated VIG companies increased 1.5% year-on-year to EUR 2,328.5 million in 2020 (2019: EUR 2,293.2 million). This was mainly due to an increase in commissions and operating expenses.