Iran reports major rise in health insurance purchases

The number of health insurance policies issued by private insurers in Iran has increased significantly this year amid a rise in the cost of healthcare services in the country.

News ID: 5749

Date: 11 January 2025 - 23:24

TABNAK, Jan 11: Figures by the Central Insurance of Iran (Bimeh Markazi) published on Saturday showed that the number of health policies issued by insurers in the country had reached more than 2.825 million in the nine months to December 20, up 74.5% from the same period last year.

The regulator said that insurers in the country had earned 1,274 trillion rials ($1.57 billion) in premiums for health policies in April-December, an increase of 84.2% from the same previous period.

Premiums for health policies accounted for 39.2% of all premiums generated in Iran’s private insurance sector in the nine months to late December, it said, adding that health policies were responsible for only 7.4% of all policies issued in the sector over the same period.

Claim payouts in the sector rose 62.5% year on year in April-December to reach 714 trillion rials, accounting for 42.6% of all payouts in the industry, the figures showed.

The growth in the Iranian health insurance sector has come amid the rising costs of healthcare services, including the price of medicines, in the country in recent months.

Bimeh Markazi said the total number of policies issued by Iranian insurers in the nine months to late December reached over 59.7 million, an increase of 7% from the same period in 2023.

The total value of premiums generated in the industry reached 3,248 trillion rials (over $4 billion) in April-December, up 59.3% from the same previous period, it said.