The business of non-life insurance companies has grown by almost six percent in the first seven months of the current fiscal year. The 18 non-life insurance companies operating in Nepal have collected a total of Rs 23.06 billion in insurance premiums till mid-February, 2023 which was Rs 21.81 billion during the same period of the last fiscal year. Insurance sector experts say the growth rate of the non-life insurance business is not encouraging. "The non-life insurance business has been affected this year due to the economic slowdown and high inflation," said Raju Raman Paudel, Executive Director of the Nepal Insurance Authority (NIA).

Among the insurance companies, Shikhar Insurance tops the chart when it comes to the premium collection in this fiscal year. The company collected Rs 2.98 billion in premiums till mid-February 2023.

Neco Insurance is in the second position with premiums totaling Rs 1.75 billion followed by Rastriya Beema Sansthan at Rs 1.69 billion. As insurance companies are more concentrated in the federal capital and cities, NIA officials say that there is an imbalance in the provincial business of insurance companies. The share of Bagmati Province in the non-life insurance business is the highest while that of Karnali Province is the lowest. The NIA data shows, of the total premium collection, Bagmati Province contributes 66.46 percent. Non-life insurance companies collected premiums totaling Rs 15.32 billion in the Bagmati Province till mid-February. The share of other provinces in the non-life insurance business is less than 10 percent. As per the NIA data, Lumbini Province has a 9.25 percent share in the non-life insurance business, while Province 1 has an 8.67 percent share. Similarly, the share of Madhesh Province is 6.29 percent, Gandaki Province is 5.73 percent, Sudur Pashchim Province is 2.63 percent, and Karnali Province is 0.93 percent.