Millennials and Generation Z consumers offer the greatest growth potential for insurers because they will take out more cover as they grow older, research company Roy Morgan says.

Only 40.9% of Gen Z and 79.9% of Millennials have some type of insurance, compared with 90.6% for Gen X, 93% for Baby Boomers and 91.3% for Pre-Boomers.

Older age groups are close to saturation levels for general insurance, the research shows.

“The growth prospects appear to be greatest with the growing needs of Millennials and Gen Z, but at the same time there is a need to retain the customers in the three older age groups,” Industry Communications Director Norman Morris said.

“This is a highly competitive market where many shop around at renewal time, so there is a need to focus on customer satisfaction and competitive pricing.”

Baby Boomers and Gen X account for a combined 57.6% of the estimated total annual premium of $23.3 billion.

Millennials account for 23.1% and Gen Z only 7.4%, while Pre-Boomers hold 11.9%.

Roy Morgan surveyed more than 50,000 consumers in the year to March.