High susceptibility to natural hazards and a spending boom in residential and infrastructure construction will inflate New Zealand’s general insurance market by more than $2 billion by 2023, analytics firm GlobalData estimates.

The New Zealand insurance market will grow to $NZ10.9 billion ($10.2 billion) in 2023, from $NZ8.4 billion ($7.86 billion) last year, according to GlobalData’s latest analysis.

Gross written premium in the market registered a compound annual growth rate of 10.3% during 2014–2018, the study says. General insurance’s share as a percentage of total industry has been on the rise and is expected to reach 81.4% in 2023, up from 80.2% last year.

Property, motor, personal accident and health insurance were the major growth drivers. Property insurance represented 42% of GWP in 2018, bolstered by residential construction.

The Government’s KiwiBuild Program plans to invest $NZ2 billion ($1.87 billion) during 2018–2020.

Natural hazards resulted in an insured loss of $NZ468.9 million ($438.86 million) during 2017–2018, the Insurance Council of New Zealand said.

IAG, Vero and Tower announced plans to discontinue underwriting new policies in the high-risk areas.