Marsh says commercial rates grew in the March quarter, lifted by gains in property, financial and professional lines.

The rise to 0.89 points marks the second consecutive quarterly improvement on the broker’s Global Insurance Market Index, which improved to 0.888 points in the December quarter from 0.886 points. These gains follow 54 consecutive months of decline.

“Global property insurance prices generally continued to be affected by large catastrophe losses in the third quarter of [last year],” Marsh says.

Pricing for property risks increased 2.7% on average in the first quarter, and rates for financial and professional lines grew 1.8%.

Prices in Australia increased for the fifth consecutive quarter as the composite index surged 11.6%.

“These increases are attributed primarily to market responses to poor underwriting performance in recent years,” Marsh says.