Pacific Prime is predicting a boom in the Hong Kong expat insurance market.
Pacific Prime has reported considerable growth in the demand for health insurance in Hong Kong. As the number of expatriate workers in Hong Kong continues to grow and the cost of living rises, expats are increasingly aware of the need for a private health insurance plan.
Analysing data from 2013 Pacific Prime revealed that 0.6% of the world’s expat population live in Hong Kong. This translates to 301,000 expats in Hong Kong’s population of 7.1 million people. Data from 2009 puts Hong Kong’s expat population at 252,000, this represents an increase of 4.6% between 2009-2013.
With a further population increase of 7% expected by 2017 it is very likely that Hong Kong will maintain its position as a leading expat destination. This is good news for health insurers as more expats mean more demand for health insurance. Hong Kong may have a reputation as an centre of healthcare excellence, but medical attention isn’t cheap in this financial hub.
Overall, Hong Kong is ranked as the third most expensive city in the world for expats, and the most expensive in the Asia-Pacific region, according to a 2014 study from Mercer. The cost of healthcare in the city is linked to the high cost of living and Hong Kong’s private health system is now ranked the second most expensive in the world after the USA.
To take advantage of rising costs and an increasing number of expats, brokers are focussing on the expat health insurance market. In general, the international health insurance sector is seeing a lot of attention in Hong Kong and the wider East Asia region, Pacific Prime noted in a statement.
As many expatriates working here will travel frequently due to work, or return to their home countries on a regular basis, brokers appear to be focusing on transferable health insurance plans, whereby cover will not end upon moving to a different destination, as well as other benefits that would appeal to expats, such as emergency evacuation.
Pacific Prime predicts that as Hong Kong continues to attract global talent, more tailored expat insurance plans will be made available in the coming year.