Australia’s general insurers made an after-tax net profit of $2.9 billion last year, up 27% from 2015 on lower property claims and large reserve releases in long-tail business, according to Swiss Re’s latest Sigma study.

Premium grew by 2.3% compared with 2% in 2015, as solid business in personal lines compensated for weakness in the commercial market.

However, signs of a pick-up in commercial lines have emerged in recent months, with some insurers and brokers becoming “more positive and expecting moderate rate increases”.

In New Zealand, non-life premium grew 5.1% last year after declining by 1.1% in 2015.

Reinsurance costs there may increase as reinsurers absorb the bulk of losses from the Kaikoura earthquake, which are expected to exceed $NZ900 million ($861 million).

“Premium growth in Oceania will likely remain slow [this year], with commercial lines still soft,” the study says. “The outlook for personal lines is more positive.”

Oceania non-life premium grew 2.8% to $US53 billion ($69.7 billion) last year, making up 2.5% of the global market.

Global non-life premium grew 3.7% to $US2.12 trillion ($2.79 trillion), compared with 4.2% growth in 2015. This weaker growth was due to a slowdown in North America, western Europe and other advanced markets.