Visakhapatnam, an emerging AI data centre hub, largely escaped the storm’s impact, though loss adjusters are still weighing potential construction-level risks.
Taiwan, South Korea and Malaysia followed with declines of 15%, 13% and 10%, while Japan and Vietnam were the only markets to record increases, according to Marsh.
Onshore underwriting profit rose nearly elevenfold from a low year-earlier base, led by pecuniary loss business, while offshore premiums grew 18.9% but underwriting turned negative.
Overall commercial insurance rates fell 6% for the region, according to Marsh, marking the region’s 11th consecutive quarter of decline amid ample capacity and strong insurer competition.
Marsh data shows that property and financial lines rate declines eased, but casualty and cyber pricing continued to soften as capacity remained abundant.
Fire and ISR, the largest unauthorised foreign insurer (UFI) class, led the decline with new or renewed premiums invoiced down 27.3%, based on APRA data.
Insurers have so far counted US$170m in preliminary claims, but the country may need up to US$5bn, or around 10% of GDP, to rebuild after the disaster.
