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Industry Stats
Driving your career. Insuring your future.
Auto insurance is a multi-billion dollar industry!
We're glad that you're learning about the ever-changing and competitive business of insurance. You can research even more about insurance by visiting the industry resources page.
What is insurance?
Insurance is a system in which groups of people who have similar chances of suffering a loss transfer their risk of loss to an insurer who pools the risk of many people together. In exchange for payment of premium, the insurer promises to reimburse the person for their covered losses.
What is auto insurance?
It is an agreement between you and your insurer in which you pay the insurance company a certain amount of money and, in return, the company will protect you from major financial losses due to an accident for a given period of time.
U.S. Insurance Industry Facts
- Insurance generates more than $1 trillion.
- Property and Casualty (P&C) insurance is a $442 billion industry (2011 net premiums written).
- Personal auto insurance is a $160 billion industry sector.
- Life / health (L/H) insurance is a $500+ billion industry.
- In 2009, insurance carriers and related activities totaled 3% of the U.S. gross domestic product.
- In 2010, there were 2,689 P&C and 1,061 L/H insurance companies.
- In 2010, more than 2.2 million Americans worked in the insurance industry; more than half a million people work for P&C insurers.
- Thirty-five insurance companies are listed on the 2012 FORTUNE 500 annual ranking of America's largest corporations. Eighteen of these top companies are in the P&C insurance sector.
Sources: Insurance Information Institute, Bureau of Labor Statistics and Highline Data, LLC and FORTUNE Magazine.
Want the stats on GEICO?
Read GEICO at a Glance.
What does that mean?
Visit our insurance terms page.
Information current as of October 2012
