According to the latest sigma report from the Swiss Re Institute, sigma 4/2020, World insurance: riding out the 2020 pandemic storm, the insurance industry is set to overcome this year’s COVID-19-induced global economic recession. The sharpest economic contraction since the 1930s will lead to a slump in demand for insurance in 2020, more so for life products says the report, with global premiums expected to contract by 6%, than for non-life covers (-0.1%). However, total premium volumes will return to pre-crisis levels in 2021 already, alongside more protracted recovery in the global economy. There will be sector divergence, with non-life premium volumes above pre-crisis levels, and life below. The emerging economies, led by China, will underpin the insurance market comeback says the Institute.