Global commercial insurance rates declined by 4% in the fourth quarter of 2025, marking the sixth consecutive quarter of rate decreases, after seven years of increases,
according to the Global Insurance Market Index published by Marsh Risk, a business of Marsh.
“Growing competition among insurers, coupled with a favorable loss environment and reinsurance pricing, were the primary drivers for the rate decline along with increas
ed market capacity,” Marsh Risk said in a statement. (Editor’s note: Marsh’s Global Insurance Market Index skews toward larger account business).
The main exception to the general softening trend was US casualty where rates increased by 9% during Q4 2025, compared to 8% in Q3, and workers’ compensation rates rose 12%.
With the exception of the US, all global regions experienced year-over-year composite rate decreases in Q4 2025. The overall composite rate in the US – which declined by 1% in Q3 2025 – was flat in Q4 2025.
The Pacific region experienced the steepest composite rate decline at 12%, while the IMEA region (India, the Middle East, and Africa) saw rate decreases of 10% on aver
age. Composite rates declined in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), the UK, and Canada by 7%. In Europe and Asia, rates dropped by 6% and 5%, respectively.
“Overall, clients continue to benefit not only from declining rates but also from opportunities to negotiate improved terms and conditions. Competition among insur
ers is expected to intensify,” commented John Donnelly, president, Global Placement, in an introduction to the Marsh index.
He noted that one driver for declining rates and increased competition could be lower reinsuranc
e costs. “Barring an extremely large catastrophe loss, or series of losses, global rates will likely continue to trend downward.”
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Marsh said that many clients, particularly those with good risk profiles, “used the competitive e
nvironment to negotiate improved terms, enhance coverage, and explore alternative risk transfer solutions such as self-insurance and captives.”
Global Product Line Trends
Property rates declined by 9% globally, while US property rates decreased by 8%, compared to 9% in the US in Q3 2025. Marsh attributed this apparent m
oderation in US property rate decreases to renewal timing. “As the proportion of catastrophe-drive
n placements with larger rate decreases was lower than in prior periods, the general pace of decrease slowed quarter-over-quarter.”