The UAE’s financial services industry has reported a rise in demand for insurance products that adhere to Islamic principles, with the number of Takaful policies increasing by about 20% to 992,106 in 2021 from 820,517 in 2020, according to a new report from the central bank.
Providers of Takaful insurance recorded AED 4.35B ($1.2B) in gross written contributions in 2021, up 0.51% from AED 4.32B in 2020, accounting for nearly 10% of the UAE’s insurance industry’s gross written premiums.
The largest share of gross written contributions came from healthcare-related policies (43%), followed by insurance on assets and liabilities (38.3%) and family and fund accumulation (18.1%). The UAE is the second-largest market for Takaful insurance in the GCC after Saudi Arabia, with 12 of its 62 insurers specialising in the sector.