Malaysia’s takaful industry grew at a faster rate than conventional insurance, recording a compound annual growth rate of 12.4% in the last five years and outperforming the conventional insurance’s CAGR of 7.8%. Malaysian Takaful Association chairman Ahmad Rizlan Azman said takaful contributions last year were RM6.3 billion, accounting for a 13% share of the total insurance market.
“With Malaysia’s low insurance penetration rate of 5.2% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2014 and its young demographics, significant market growth opportunities are yet to be tapped by its insurance and takaful sector,” Ahmad Rizlan said at the launch of the Malaysian Takaful Dynamics report on the sidelines of the 11th World Islamic Economic Forum yesterday.
The jointly developed report by the Malaysian Takaful Association and Ernst & Young (EY) Malaysia is the country’s first central compendium on Islamic insurance.
Ahmad Rizlan said the low penetration rate of takaful in the country is due to a lack of awareness about takaful-related products as well as the issue of affordability, especially among low-income groups.