JEDDAH, 14 February 2007 — Saudi Arabia’s insurance market will hit SR30 billion with the application of health insurance scheme on Saudi citizens this year, analysts said. They said the expansion of insurance service would also create at least 10,000 new jobs.
Health Minister Dr. Hamad Al-Manie recently emphasized his ministry’s determination to provide health insurance coverage to all Saudis and expatriates in the Kingdom. Of 1,135,881 people insured so far, 970,169 are expatriates and 165,712 are Saudis.
Al-Manie said the insurance sector would receive a big boost with 13 companies already licensed to carry out their activities in the Kingdom. They will inject SR2.6 billion into the market, of which SR936 million would be channeled into initial public offerings.
“At present only 4.7 percent of the Kingdom’s population is given health insurance coverage,” one analyst said. This is a meager rate compared to advanced countries such as Sweden, Denmark, Britain, New Zealand, Spain, Singapore and Japan.
He hoped that health insurance coverage in the Kingdom would increase to five million or 23 percent of the population within a few years. “This will eventually increase per capita insurance spending in the Kingdom from SR150 to SR450,” he added.
