France

The French insurance industry is the largest in the EU27 and therefore the largest in the European Union after Brexit. The French insurance market is large both because the French economy is the second largest in the EU27 and because insurance is a significant part of the French economy. France has a very high level of insurance penetration, particularly for life insurance. There are 742 insurers in the insurance industry. This large number of insurers creates a diverse and competitive market. There are 339 insurers subject to Solvency II with less than EUR 1 billion in assets. It appears these small insurers are well capitalized with all exceeding a 100 percent SCR even if the transitional measures in Solvency II and the long-term guarantee package are not taken into account. Given the diversification benefits embedded in Solvency II capital requirements and the challenging environment of prolonged low interest rates, the presence of many independent small entities will have an impact on the overall efficiency and cost of delivering products to policyholders in the market.