Despite the confusion surrounding the statistics, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority’s (APRA) quarterly general insurance performance statistics show some interesting trends developing in the industry.

The data shows while there are 133 underwriters in the Australian market, consolidation has meant the top five insurers account for 70% of net premium revenue.

More than $21 billion in net premium revenue was written in the year to June, and of that more than $14.5 billion was written by the top five insurers.

Net premium revenue for the second quarter was up slightly on the corresponding period last year ($5.7 billion compared to $5.5 billion), and return on equity was slightly down (24.9% compared to 25.6%).

Investment income for the period stood at $1.5 billion, a substantial increase on last year’s figure of $1.1 billion.

Total assets for the industry were also higher for the June quarter compared to last year’s corresponding period ($80 billion compared to $77 billion), and total liabilities were steady at $56 billion.