Agricultural insurance contracting achieves record-breaking first half with historic premiums and insured capital

The positive trend in agricultural insurance contracting observed in recent years has continued to strengthen in 2024.  The first half of the year saw record-breaking premiums and insured capital, with growth across all contracting parameters.

By June 2024, premium receipts reached 580.4 million euros, an increase of nearly 7% compared to the same period last year. The insured capital exceeded 10.4 billion euros, a 12% rise from the first six months of 2023. Insured production also experienced growth, largely driven by the increase in spring option contracts for arable crop insurance, reaching around 26 million tonnes, a nearly 20% increase from 2023.  The insured area, covering 2.25 million hectares, and the number of policies issued, over 233,800 as of 30 June, both saw significant growth at 10% and 8%, respectively. 

According to Sílvia Marques, Director of Production and Communication at Agroseguro, this increase in agricultural insurance contracting "reflects the clear need for farmers and ranchers to protect themselves against severe episodes of frost, drought, heatwaves, and storm fronts of hail, wind, and rain, as well as the high management quality standards we have set within the Spanish Combined Agricultural Insurance system."

General growth in insured production

Following the widespread drought of 2023, the autumn and spring of 2024 have provided sufficient water in most herbaceous crop-producing areas, leading to predictions of good harvests.  This situation has driven a significant increase in insured production for these crops during the spring, totalling 8.5 million tonnes in the first half of the year—a 62.4% increase from 2023 when there was scarcely any harvest to insure in the spring months. Insured capital through the herbaceous crops line also rose, reaching more than 2,040 million euros, nearly 60% higher than the first half of the previous year. 

The insured production of vegetable insurance lines also saw important growth, increasing by almost 7% to 6.4 million tonnes, with insured capital nearly 1,550 million euros, over 10% higher.

The record-breaking first half of 2024 is further supported by the growth in insured production across other insurance lines such as persimmon, nuts, strawberries, red fruits, non-textile industrial crops, olive groves, bananas, live plants, tropical and subtropical plants, as well as in the livestock insurance sector. The number of insured animals reached nearly 262 million in the first six months of the year, approximately 12% more than last year, with insured capital amounting to nearly 1,790 million euros, a 6% increase compared to the same period the previous year.

In the case of wine grapes or fruit trees, part of the usual spring volume was contracted earlier in autumn 2023 for greater coverage, resulting in similar or higher contracting values for the 2024 harvest. Lastly, citrus fruit contracting, with its subscription period open until 15 September, is evolving positively, albeit at a slower pace compared to the previous campaign.