Strong competition, excess capacity and a lack of major events led to a first-quarter drop in property insurance rates worldwide, according to Marsh.

The Marsh Risk Management Global Insurance Index fell to 100.4 – its lowest since 2012 and its fourth consecutive quarterly decline.

Asia-Pacific experienced “very high levels” of property insurance capacity, which led to carriers competing aggressively on price.

Marsh reports a slight increase in casualty rates in the US and continental Europe, but drops in Asia-Pacific, the UK and Latin America.

The professional liability market remained stable overall, with rates flat or declining by up to 10%. Italy and Spain were the only eurozone countries to experience rate rises for financial institutions coverage.

The number of Marsh’s US clients buying standalone cyber insurance grew 21% from 2012 to last year, while in Asia the cover is “gaining substantial traction as the frequency of hacking attacks and data breaches accelerates”.

Insurers are also weighing up the potential risks of peer-to-peer payment systems such as Bitcoin, the report says.

Total insurable values “continued to increase modestly” in the quarter as economies recover from the global financial crisis.