Connecticut’s insurance industry ranks first among U.S. states for written life insurance premiums, and second for total direct written premium, according to PwC’s “2013 Connecticut Insurance Market Brief.”
Despite the impressive rankings, Connecticut’s direct written premiums decreased by approximately $820 million or 2.7 percent over the last couple years, falling from $30 billion in 2010 to $29.2 billion in 2011. The number of domestic insurance entities remained constant at 110 while the number of non-domestic insurance entities decreased slightly by 1.2 percent to a total of 1,279. The premium decrease, however, was more the result of domestic premium declines of 4.6 percent than nondomestic premium declines of 0.8 percent.
There are approximately 110 domestic and 1,279 non-domestic insurance entities doing business in the state, each developing, selling and administering a variety of products and services. Some of the world’s largest insurance companies call Connecticut home, and even more compete for Connecticut business.
And, according to the Connecticut Economic Resource Center (CERC), one new job in the insurance industry adds an additional 1.46 jobs to the Connecticut economy.
Insurance continues to be a vital sector of Connecticut’s economy. The most dramatic financial impact the insurance industry has on Connecticut is its contribution to the gross state product (GSP). With only 3 percent of the workforce and 5.9 percent of the payroll, the insurance industry contributes 8.8 percent of Connecticut’s GSP, making insurance one of the state’s top sectors from a GSP perspective.
Connecticut also continues to rank first nationally in insurance carrier employment as a percentage of total employment, insurance payroll as a percentage of total payroll, and insurance GSP as a percentage of total GSP.
