Lagos State has indeed proven to be the commercial hub of Nigeria, as insurers pooled the largest premium of N196.56 billion from policyholders in the state for the insurance sector in 2018.
A document obtained from the Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA) has disclosed noting that, the figure represents about 40 per cent of the N413.85 billion total premiums generated by the industry for the period under review.
According to NIA, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, follows suit by generating N15.53 billion premium for the insurance market while Rivers provided N5.53 billion.
Oyo State generated N3.49 billion; Kaduna pooled N2.05 billion; Kano recorded N1.81 billion and Delta generated N1.49 billion premium income.
Other states, according to the data, provided less than N1 billion.
A further breakdown of the data revealed that on a regional basis, operators generated N329.12 billion premium from South West, amounting to over 75 per cent of the total premium income generated by the insurance industry in 2018 financial year.
North Central pooled N39.17 billion premium income, followed by South-South with N24.84 billion even as North West generated N14.26 billion. South East contributed N5.76 billion premium into the industry while the North East recorded the least premium of N689.36 million.
Analysis of claims paid by insurance firms; South West offered N171.29 billion out of the total N211.52 billion paid in the year. North Central has N19.93 billion; South South, N12.97 billion; North West, N4.73 billion; South East, N2.54 billion and North East, N52.91 million.
The NIA stated that the industry grew at a faster pace than the economy, though penetration remains very low.