The Underwriting Signal

Global Rate Cycle

These series track the insurance capital cycle — premium volumes, commercial rate movement, underwriting profitability. The cycle can fully mask risk: global commercial rates fell for eight straight quarters through the 2026 Iran war while reinsurer capital hit records.

Cycle series are controls and context, not risk signals (Cummins–Outreville 1987). Cat-bond spreads additionally embed credit spreads (Braun 2016). Subtract this cycle before reading any premium series as risk.

US non-life gross direct premiums written (OECD)

cycle_control loading…

USD millions · annual · methodology

Data table (13 observations)
DateValueRangeSource
2012-12-31 977228.0 oecd_sdmx
2013-12-31 1016571.0 oecd_sdmx
2014-12-31 1113379.0 oecd_sdmx
2015-12-31 1196733.0 oecd_sdmx
2016-12-31 1266131.0 oecd_sdmx
2017-12-31 1326068.0 oecd_sdmx
2018-12-31 1408663.0 oecd_sdmx
2019-12-31 1495079.0 oecd_sdmx
2020-12-31 1565690.0 oecd_sdmx
2021-12-31 1732648.0 oecd_sdmx
2022-12-31 1921087.0 oecd_sdmx
2023-12-31 2094904.0 oecd_sdmx
2024-12-31 2274544.0 oecd_sdmx

US marine, aviation & transport gross direct premiums (OECD)

cycle_control loading…

USD millions · annual · methodology

Data table (13 observations)
DateValueRangeSource
2012-12-31 1900.0 oecd_sdmx
2013-12-31 1732.0 oecd_sdmx
2014-12-31 1658.0 oecd_sdmx
2015-12-31 1592.0 oecd_sdmx
2016-12-31 3156.0 oecd_sdmx
2017-12-31 1606.0 oecd_sdmx
2018-12-31 1659.0 oecd_sdmx
2019-12-31 1923.0 oecd_sdmx
2020-12-31 2211.0 oecd_sdmx
2021-12-31 2531.0 oecd_sdmx
2022-12-31 2831.0 oecd_sdmx
2023-12-31 3030.0 oecd_sdmx
2024-12-31 3032.0 oecd_sdmx

UK non-life gross direct premiums written (OECD)

cycle_control loading…

USD millions · annual · methodology

Data table (13 observations)
DateValueRangeSource
2012-12-31 80388.883 oecd_sdmx
2013-12-31 83702.009 oecd_sdmx
2014-12-31 85101.928 oecd_sdmx
2015-12-31 77328.83 oecd_sdmx
2016-12-31 94604.217 oecd_sdmx
2017-12-31 102012.36 oecd_sdmx
2018-12-31 103503.253 oecd_sdmx
2019-12-31 81336.977 oecd_sdmx
2020-12-31 80856.41 oecd_sdmx
2021-12-31 91685.063 oecd_sdmx
2022-12-31 115678.255 oecd_sdmx
2023-12-31 125352.599 oecd_sdmx
2024-12-31 138922.988 oecd_sdmx

UK marine, aviation & transport gross direct premiums (OECD)

cycle_control loading…

USD millions · annual · methodology

Data table (13 observations)
DateValueRangeSource
2012-12-31 5029.258 oecd_sdmx
2013-12-31 5504.037 oecd_sdmx
2014-12-31 4536.926 oecd_sdmx
2015-12-31 3470.545 oecd_sdmx
2016-12-31 8479.573 oecd_sdmx
2017-12-31 9699.009 oecd_sdmx
2018-12-31 9721.529 oecd_sdmx
2019-12-31 7848.342 oecd_sdmx
2020-12-31 7942.308 oecd_sdmx
2021-12-31 8267.486 oecd_sdmx
2022-12-31 10303.192 oecd_sdmx
2023-12-31 11949.279 oecd_sdmx
2024-12-31 12662.533 oecd_sdmx

EEA non-life gross direct premiums written, year-to-date (EIOPA)

cycle_control loading…

EUR millions (year-to-date) · quarterly · methodology

Data table (39 observations)
DateValueRangeSource
2016-09-30 280535.685533 eiopa
2016-12-31 351145.086539 eiopa
2017-03-31 146366.651904 eiopa
2017-06-30 216167.717909 eiopa
2017-09-30 292699.857354 eiopa
2017-12-31 367965.660077 eiopa
2018-03-31 141649.481637 eiopa
2018-06-30 225137.528297 eiopa
2018-09-30 301688.013294 eiopa
2018-12-31 385210.483493 eiopa
2019-03-31 150535.248443 eiopa
2019-06-30 239545.692309 eiopa
2019-09-30 330186.951736 eiopa
2019-12-31 419773.203212 eiopa
2020-03-31 157428.569364 eiopa
2020-06-30 249687.337104 eiopa
2020-09-30 337857.83711 eiopa
2020-12-31 431087.607069 eiopa
2021-03-31 163029.942693 eiopa
2021-06-30 261999.69411 eiopa
2021-09-30 356090.821794 eiopa
2021-12-31 452672.481697 eiopa
2022-03-31 173778.263143 eiopa
2022-06-30 279382.350112 eiopa
2022-09-30 379662.634939 eiopa
2022-12-31 483931.019352 eiopa
2023-03-31 185796.134018 eiopa
2023-06-30 298636.402894 eiopa
2023-09-30 405349.86719 eiopa
2023-12-31 516645.496977 eiopa
2024-03-31 198523.796918 eiopa
2024-06-30 321092.605546 eiopa
2024-09-30 435319.093144 eiopa
2024-12-31 555112.537718 eiopa
2025-03-31 212767.298366 eiopa
2025-06-30 340038.942925 eiopa
2025-09-30 463528.312094 eiopa
2025-12-31 588231.66387 eiopa
2026-03-31 221503.667933 eiopa

EEA non-life net combined ratio, year-to-date (EIOPA)

cycle_control loading…

ratio (year-to-date) · quarterly · methodology

Data table (37 observations)
DateValueRangeSource
2017-03-31 0.89 eiopa
2017-06-30 0.9 eiopa
2017-09-30 0.94 eiopa
2017-12-31 0.94 eiopa
2018-03-31 0.94 eiopa
2018-06-30 0.95 eiopa
2018-09-30 0.94 eiopa
2018-12-31 0.95 eiopa
2019-03-31 0.95 eiopa
2019-06-30 0.94 eiopa
2019-09-30 0.95 eiopa
2019-12-31 0.96 eiopa
2020-03-31 0.96 eiopa
2020-06-30 0.94 eiopa
2020-09-30 0.94 eiopa
2020-12-31 0.95 eiopa
2021-03-31 0.92 eiopa
2021-06-30 0.93 eiopa
2021-09-30 0.94 eiopa
2021-12-31 0.95 eiopa
2022-03-31 0.95 eiopa
2022-06-30 0.94 eiopa
2022-09-30 0.95 eiopa
2022-12-31 0.96 eiopa
2023-03-31 0.95 eiopa
2023-06-30 0.96 eiopa
2023-09-30 0.97 eiopa
2023-12-31 0.97 eiopa
2024-03-31 0.96 eiopa
2024-06-30 0.96 eiopa
2024-09-30 0.96 eiopa
2024-12-31 0.96 eiopa
2025-03-31 0.97 eiopa
2025-06-30 0.95 eiopa
2025-09-30 0.94 eiopa
2025-12-31 0.94 eiopa
2026-03-31 0.93 eiopa

US PPI: premiums for property & casualty insurance (BLS via FRED)

cycle_control loading…

index · monthly · methodology

Data table (121 observations)
DateValueRangeSource
2016-07-01 145.5 fred
2016-08-01 145.8 fred
2016-09-01 145.5 fred
2016-10-01 146.9 fred
2016-11-01 147.1 fred
2016-12-01 147.3 fred
2017-01-01 147.4 fred
2017-02-01 147.5 fred
2017-03-01 147.5 fred
2017-04-01 149.2 fred
2017-05-01 149.3 fred
2017-06-01 150.4 fred
2017-07-01 150.4 fred
2017-08-01 150.4 fred
2017-09-01 150.7 fred
2017-10-01 150.9 fred
2017-11-01 150.9 fred
2017-12-01 152.1 fred
2018-01-01 151.9 fred
2018-02-01 152.0 fred
2018-03-01 152.1 fred
2018-04-01 152.6 fred
2018-05-01 152.8 fred
2018-06-01 152.6 fred
2018-07-01 153.1 fred
2018-08-01 153.3 fred
2018-09-01 153.5 fred
2018-10-01 153.5 fred
2018-11-01 153.5 fred
2018-12-01 154.1 fred
2019-01-01 154.0 fred
2019-02-01 154.2 fred
2019-03-01 154.3 fred
2019-04-01 154.4 fred
2019-05-01 155.1 fred
2019-06-01 155.0 fred
2019-07-01 155.4 fred
2019-08-01 155.5 fred
2019-09-01 155.7 fred
2019-10-01 156.0 fred
2019-11-01 156.0 fred
2019-12-01 156.3 fred
2020-01-01 156.3 fred
2020-02-01 156.4 fred
2020-03-01 156.4 fred
2020-04-01 156.1 fred
2020-05-01 156.4 fred
2020-06-01 156.8 fred
2020-07-01 156.8 fred
2020-08-01 156.8 fred
2020-09-01 157.0 fred
2020-10-01 156.9 fred
2020-11-01 156.8 fred
2020-12-01 157.1 fred
2021-01-01 155.1 fred
2021-02-01 154.7 fred
2021-03-01 154.6 fred
2021-04-01 154.6 fred
2021-05-01 154.8 fred
2021-06-01 155.3 fred
2021-07-01 155.965 fred
2021-08-01 155.965 fred
2021-09-01 156.092 fred
2021-10-01 155.994 fred
2021-11-01 156.038 fred
2021-12-01 156.455 fred
2022-01-01 156.595 fred
2022-02-01 157.223 fred
2022-03-01 157.384 fred
2022-04-01 157.821 fred
2022-05-01 158.05 fred
2022-06-01 158.657 fred
2022-07-01 159.711 fred
2022-08-01 159.832 fred
2022-09-01 160.115 fred
2022-10-01 160.091 fred
2022-11-01 160.199 fred
2022-12-01 161.804 fred
2023-01-01 163.187 fred
2023-02-01 163.397 fred
2023-03-01 163.719 fred
2023-04-01 164.076 fred
2023-05-01 164.912 fred
2023-06-01 168.065 fred
2023-07-01 168.326 fred
2023-08-01 168.454 fred
2023-09-01 169.555 fred
2023-10-01 169.573 fred
2023-11-01 170.112 fred
2023-12-01 170.507 fred
2024-01-01 170.9 fred
2024-02-01 171.555 fred
2024-03-01 172.152 fred
2024-04-01 172.968 fred
2024-05-01 174.447 fred
2024-06-01 175.102 fred
2024-07-01 175.49 fred
2024-08-01 175.788 fred
2024-09-01 177.52 fred
2024-10-01 177.649 fred
2024-11-01 177.82 fred
2024-12-01 177.713 fred
2025-01-01 177.864 fred
2025-02-01 178.388 fred
2025-03-01 180.565 fred
2025-04-01 180.634 fred
2025-05-01 181.014 fred
2025-06-01 181.145 fred
2025-07-01 181.295 fred
2025-08-01 181.939 fred
2025-09-01 184.483 fred
2025-10-01 184.485 fred
2025-11-01 184.532 fred
2025-12-01 185.116 fred
2026-01-01 185.198 fred
2026-02-01 185.186 fred
2026-03-01 185.809 fred
2026-04-01 185.848 fred
2026-05-01 185.878 fred
2026-06-01 185.724 fred
2026-07-01 185.739 fred

Marsh global composite commercial rate change

cycle_control loading…

% change, quarter over quarter · quarterly · methodology

No approved observations yet. Data enters only after human review of sourced candidates — this panel never shows placeholder or interpolated values.

Catastrophe bond market outstanding (Artemis)

cycle_control loading…

USD billions outstanding · quarterly · methodology

No approved observations yet. Data enters only after human review of sourced candidates — this panel never shows placeholder or interpolated values.

Global reinsurer capital (Aon)

cycle_control loading…

USD billions · renewal seasons · methodology

No approved observations yet. Data enters only after human review of sourced candidates — this panel never shows placeholder or interpolated values.