INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE IN THE FUNCTIONING OF THE PERSONAL INSURANCE MARKET AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR ITS ADAPTATION IN UKRAINE

Abstract

This article examines the international experience regarding the operation and development of the personal insurance market, using the Netherlands, Germany, the Czech Republic, Poland, and Romania as case studies. Ukrainian life insurers lag behind their global counterparts in terms of market penetration and the range of services offered. However, there is a lack of research summarizing best practices in this field and exploring the potential for adapting them to the realities of the Ukrainian insurance sector. The study aims to analyze the operation and development of personal insurance markets in selected European countries and to identify opportunities for adapting specific practices to Ukrainian conditions. The research focuses on the functioning and development of personal insurance markets within specific European Union countries. The study is grounded in the conceptual principles governing personal insurance markets. The authors employed a range of general scientific and specialized methods, including: analysis and synthesis (to select countries representing diverse insurance market models and development levels); statistical analysis (to examine market volume, penetration rates, and the share of personal insurance products); the geometric mean growth rate method (to calculate average annual growth rates for personal insurance); and comparative analysis (to contrast personal insurance market density indicators across the selected EU countries and identify disparities in the consumption of insurance services). The findings reveal significant differences between the development levels of national personal insurance markets—and the factors driving them—and the market dynamics observed abroad. It has been established that high levels of personal insurance development may be linked to the specifics of regulatory models, whereas rapid growth rates in markets with a low initial level of development do not necessarily indicate structural changes. A synthesis of international experience revealed a direct correlation between the population's level of well-being and the development of the personal insurance market. Furthermore, calculating market concentration based on the market shares of the three and five largest insurance companies highlighted the heterogeneity of the competitive structure and the degree of consolidation within the national insurance markets of the countries studied. The comprehensive application of these methods facilitated the formulation of well-founded research conclusions and results. The recommendations developed will contribute to the expansion and improvement of the personal insurance system in Ukraine.