Lebanon has long represented to Middle Eastern insurance operators what Eton stands for in relation to Anglo-Saxon education – it is one of the oldest insurance sectors in the region, has produced a substantial portion of the leading individuals in the industry and prides itself on containing some of the highest skill concentrations. And yet it has not seen the growth of which some of the Middle East’s other markets are boasting. Nominally — that is, based on assumptions that premiums growth for 2010 was similar to that estimated for 2009 — the total value of insurance premiums in Lebanon likely hit the $1 billion mark at some point in 2010. Data from international reinsurance firm Swiss Re has pinned a “best in region” button on the lapel of Lebanon’s insurance penetration, calculated as the percentage of gross domestic product invested in insurance. Lebanon was judged to have the
