Market concentration and competition in the Romanian insurance market. An Analysis of market structure over 2015-2024

Mihai Vrișcu and Bogdan-Petru Vrînceanu
Additional contact information
Mihai Vrișcu: Doctoral School Business Administration II Bucharest University of Economic Studies
Bogdan-Petru Vrînceanu: Doctoral School Business Administration II Bucharest University of Economic Studies

Romanian Competition Journal, 2026, vol. 6, issue 1, 58-65

Abstract: The Romanian insurance market remains one of the least developed in the European Union, with an insurance penetration of only 1.35% of GDP in 2024, below the Central and Eastern European average (about 2.2%) and far below Western Europe (6–9.5%). Paradoxically, this undersized market is at the same time highly concentrated and marked by recurrent structural instability. This paper analyses the structure and concentration of the Romanian insurance market over 2015–2024, drawing on data published by the Financial Supervisory Authority (ASF) and on computations by XPRIMM Publications. Concentration ratios (CR3, CR5, CR10) and the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI) are employed, complemented by an analysis of the competitive dynamics generated by the successive market exits of leading insurers through insolvency (Astra, Carpatica, City Insurance and Euroins). The results indicate a medium-to-high level of concentration at the aggregate level (the top ten of the 25 authorized undertakings accounting for about 92% of gross written premiums in 2024) and substantially higher concentration in the motor segments, particularly compulsory motor third-party liability (MTPL), where successive failures repeatedly reshaped the ranking of players. The study highlights the tension between market underdevelopment and competitive fragility and draws implications for competition policy and prudential supervision.

Keywords: insurance market; market concentration; competition; herfindahl-hirschman index; motor insurance (mtpl). (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.revistadeconcurenta.ro/pdfjs/web/viewe ... 3205#zoom=page-width https://www.revistadeconcurenta.ro/pdfjs/web/viewer.html?file=/?attachment_id=3211#zoom=page-width

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ris:rocojo:023790

DOI: 10.58276/RCJ.2026.1.2

Access Statistics for this article

Romanian Competition Journal is currently edited by Florin Andrei

More articles in Romanian Competition Journal from Consiliul Concurenței Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Mihail Busu ().