Reflections from the EY Global Insurance Outlook

The global insurance industry is heading into a defining moment. The EY 2025 Global Insurance Outlook makes it clear that uncertainty isn’t just a passing challenge, it’s the new normal. Geopolitical tensions, fluctuating interest rates, regulatory shifts, and evolving customer demands are reshaping business models at an unprecedented pace.

For insurers in Ireland, these global forces bring both pressure and opportunity. Ireland’s status as a key European hub means it benefits from a robust regulatory framework, strong market positioning, and cross-border activity. But staying ahead will require insurers to embrace digital transformation, enhance cost efficiency, and adapt to new customer expectations.

So, what’s shaping the future? And how should Irish insurers respond?

Rising Complexity, Rising Expectations

With geopolitical instability, inflationary pressures, and financial market volatility, insurers must balance resilience with strategic adaptability. According to EY’s Global Insurance Outlook, 98% of global insurance CEOs are rethinking investment plans in response to economic shifts, while 56% of Chief Risk Officers (CROs) rank geopolitical risk among their top three concerns.

For Irish insurers, this means continued regulatory scrutiny alongside broader capital and risk management challenges:

• Regulatory evolution continues, with the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) prioritising financial resilience, climate risk, and consumer protection. The review of the Consumer Protection Code (CPC) will drive changes in product oversight, while the introduction of the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) places cyber risk and digital resilience under sharper scrutiny.
• Market volatility affects long-term planning, making it harder to forecast capital requirements, investment returns, and claims trends.
• Ireland remains a strong hub for insurers, but with tightening regulations across Europe, firms must structure themselves efficiently to navigate local, and EU-wide compliance frameworks, alongside potentially diverging regulations at a Group level.

Now is the time for insurers to double down on operational agility, and ensure compliance isn’t just about box-ticking but a tool for competitive advantage.

Innovation: From Competitive Advantage to Competitive Necessity

The insurance industry has been talking about digital transformation for years—but in 2025, it’s no longer just a growth lever, it’s a survival strategy.

Emerging trends are reshaping the insurance sector in Ireland, namely:

• Embedded insurance models are gaining traction, integrating policies directly into retail, mobility, and financial transactions.
• Open finance and bancassurance partnerships are reshaping distribution models, allowing insurers to tap into new customer segments via financial institutions and digital platforms.
• AI-driven underwriting and claims automation are making risk assessments faster, more accurate, and more customer-centric.
• Cyber insurance is one of the fastest-growing segments, with demand increasing due to rising digital threats and stricter regulatory compliance requirements.

While Irish insurers recognise the importance of technology, the challenge is moving fast enough to stay competitive. Engaging with the Central Bank’s Innovation Sandbox Programme, deepening InsurTech partnerships, and scaling AI-driven risk modelling will be key to unlocking growth.

Life & Commercial Insurance: The Next Growth Frontier

While much of the conversation in Ireland’s insurance sector focuses on regulatory change and technology, insurers should also be looking at growth opportunities in life and commercial insurance.

Life Insurance Outlook

• Retirement savings gaps are growing, creating demand for flexible pension products and hybrid annuities.
• 1 billion people globally will be aged 65+ by 2030, increasing demand for scalable, digital-first retirement solutions.
• Corporates are increasingly offloading pension liabilities, opening new market opportunities for insurers offering customised annuities and de-risking solutions.

Commercial Insurance Outlook

• Cyber insurance demand is set to surge, driven by increasing regulatory requirements and the rising cost of data breaches.
• Parametric insurance solutions are emerging in Ireland, particularly in response to climate-related risks and NatCat events.
• Public-private partnerships could play a growing role in helping Irish businesses mitigate risk in high-volatility sectors.

For Irish insurers, the breadth of products on offer is no different to other jurisdictions and tailoring products to evolving customer needs will be a core growth driver, as customers move through the cycle of wealth accumulation and decumulation. Insurers will keep a watching brief on how the government’s plan to launch an autoenrollment pension offering later in 2025 creates opportunities in the market. In the commercial retirement space, we’ve seen some early activity in the pension risk transfer market and expect this to continue as a theme through 2025.

Redefining Efficiency: The Role of Automation & Operational Excellence

As regulatory complexity increases and pricing pressures intensify, insurers must become more operationally agile. Across the industry, insurers are rethinking how to improve cost efficiency while enhancing customer experience.

Key Efficiency Strategies for Insurers in the Irish market:

• AI-powered automation in claims handling, fraud detection, and regulatory reporting to reduce overhead costs.
• Agile product development, allowing insurers to rapidly adapt offerings to shifting market conditions.
• Lean, data-driven operating models that prioritise low-cost distribution channels and personalised digital engagement.

The insurers that embed automation into their core operations will not only improve efficiency but free up capital to reinvest in innovation and customer service.

Sustainability & ESG: Time for Insurance to Lead

Notwithstanding the changes proposed recently by the EU Omnibus Simplification package, one trend that will define the long-term future of insurance, it’s climate risk.

Key ESG Priorities for the Irish insurance market:

• Embedding climate risk into underwriting, ensuring that sustainability considerations influence risk assessment and pricing.
• Enhancing ESG disclosures, aligning with EU Sustainable Finance directives to ensure transparency.
• Developing green insurance products, such as sustainability-linked policies and resilience-focused coverage for businesses adapting to climate risks.

The insurance industry is uniquely positioned to help businesses and individuals navigate climate risk—but it requires proactive leadership rather than reacting to new regulations.

The Road Ahead: What Comes Next for Irish Insurers?

The next phase of growth for Ireland’s insurance sector will be shaped by firms that adapt with agility. In 2025 and beyond, taking action in a number of priority areas will drive future success.

• Use regulation as a competitive advantage, rather than a compliance burden.
• Embed innovation into strategy, ensuring digital transformation drives both efficiency and customer experience.
• Optimise operations, leveraging AI and automation to drive cost efficiency.
• Develop tailored life and commercial insurance solutions, aligned with evolving customer and corporate needs.
• Lead on ESG and sustainability, positioning insurance as a driver of resilience

Irish insurers that embrace marketing shifts, invest in the right capabilities, and act decisively will define the future of the industry.