Beinsure cyber insurance outlook: Global premiums exceed $16 bn as claims rise

Beinsure's cyber insurance outlook finds global premiums $16 bn, US market growth of 3.5% and large-business claims doubling to $4.4 mn amid rising AI risks

NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, November 4, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The global cyber insurance market exceeded $16 bn in premiums in 2025, while US direct written premiums recovered to $9.46 bn, according to Beinsure's analysis of the latest insurance market data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), AM Best, Chubb and Coalition.

The findings show a market moving beyond the rapid expansion of previous years. Premium growth has moderated as competition and underwriting capacity increase, but claims experience remains uneven, with large corporations reporting substantially higher losses.

Key highlights:

- Global cyber insurance premiums exceeded $16 bn in 2025, while US direct written premiums increased 3.5% to $9.46 bn, reversing the market's 2024 contraction.
- Average cyber claim severity among large businesses doubled to $4.4 mn, increasing 586% since 2021, despite a decline in claims frequency.
- Beinsure expects more moderate premium growth, expanding international demand and greater underwriting pressure from ransomware, AI-enabled attacks and systemic cyber exposures.

"US cyber insurance premiums increased 3.5% in 2025, reversing the market's first contraction in 2024. At the same time, average claim severity among companies with at least $1 bn in annual revenue doubled to approximately $4.4 mn," said Tetiana Mykhailova, CFO and Senior Investment Analyst at Beinsure.

Between 2017 and 2022, the cyber insurance market expanded at an annual rate of approximately 32%. Global premiums doubled from 2017 to 2020 and again between 2020 and 2022.

Beinsure's analysis of cyber insurance market developments identifies a shift toward more moderate growth, with insurer profitability increasingly dependent on underwriting discipline, claims severity and risk accumulation.

GLOBAL CYBER INSURANCE PREMIUMS EXCEED $16 BN

Global cyber insurance premiums surpassed $16 bn in 2025, according to AM Best's July 2026 market outlook. Growth slowed as additional capacity and competition affected pricing, particularly in the US.

"The American market continues to account for more than half of global premiums. Including US cyber exposures insured through Lloyd's increases the estimated share to approximately 60%," Peter Sonner, Lead tech editor at Beinsure stated..

AM Best maintained a stable outlook for the global cyber insurance segment, citing sustained demand, favorable intermediate-term profitability, improving cybersecurity practices and additional reinsurance and alternative capital.

The rating agency expects international markets to increase their share of global premiums, particularly in Europe, Latin America and developed Asian economies.

Small and medium-sized enterprises represent an important source of potential growth as cyber insurance penetration increases outside the US.

Beinsure's global cyber insurance outlook identifies ransomware, business email compromise, funds transfer fraud and systemic cyber risks as continuing concerns for insurers.

"AI-enabled cyberattacks and the growing use of autonomous systems are also complicating assessments of potential losses, particularly where multiple insured organisations depend on the same technology providers", said Peter Sonner.

US CYBER INSURANCE MARKET GROWS 3.5% TO $9.46 BN

US cyber insurance direct written premiums reached $9.46 bn in 2025, including $7.46 bn generated by domestic insurers and approximately $2 bn reported by alien surplus lines insurers.

According to the NAIC's 2026 Cybersecurity Insurance Market Report - https://content.naic.org/resource-center/2026-report-cybersecurity-insurance-market - domestic premiums increased from $2.75 bn in 2020 to $7.46 bn in 2025, representing compound annual growth of approximately 22%.

The market's longer-term expansion remains substantial despite slower growth following the end of the hard-market cycle.

Chubb retained its position as the largest domestic US cyber insurer, reporting $629.2 mn in direct written premiums and an 8.44% market share.

Beazley climbed from 16th to second place, generating $570.9 mn and accounting for 7.65% of domestic premiums.

St Paul Travelers ranked third with approximately $544 mn, followed by Sompo at $342 mn and Tokio Marine Holdings at $319 mn.

"The five largest insurers controlled 32.24% of domestic US cyber premiums, while the top 10 accounted for 51.03%. The 20 leading insurance groups collectively represented 76.82%," Nataly Kramer, Lead editor at Beinsure stated. "Underwriting performance varied significantly. Chubb reported a 58.81% loss ratio including defense and cost containment expenses, compared with 16.28% for Beazley, 41.60% for Arch Insurance and 62.28% for AIG".

The differences illustrate the variation in claims experience across insurer portfolios, although loss ratios alone do not establish overall profitability.

CYBER CLAIM SEVERITY DOUBLES AMONG LARGE BUSINESSES

Beinsure's analysis identifies a widening difference between cyber losses experienced by large corporations and smaller policyholders.

According to Chubb's 2026 Cyber Claims Report, cited in the NAIC analysis, average claim severity among businesses generating at least $1 bn in annual revenue reached approximately $4.4 mn in 2025. That compares with $2.2 mn in 2024 and represents an increase of 586% since 2021.

"Higher business interruption expenses, data breach costs and privacy litigation were the principal drivers," said Oleg Parashchak, CEO of Beinsure and Finance Media. "Middle-market businesses recorded average severity of $759,000, compared with $619,000 in 2024, an increase of 22.6%".

Smaller and mid-sized enterprises reported a decline of 34%, with average losses falling from approximately $215,000 to $142,000.

Claims frequency decreased among larger companies. Large businesses reported approximately 10 claims per 100 policies in 2025, down from 15 in 2024. Middle-market frequency declined from around six to slightly more than five claims per 100 policies.

The combination of fewer claims and higher severity suggests that improved risk controls may be limiting the number of insured incidents, while losses from major breaches and prolonged business interruption continue to increase.

For insurers, large corporate accounts can therefore create significant claims exposure even as overall incident frequency improves.

GLOBAL CYBER CLAIMS FREQUENCY RISES WHILE AVERAGE LOSSES DECLINE

Coalition's 2026 Cyber Claims Report presents a different pattern, reflecting its broader portfolio of more than 100,000 policyholders across the US, Canada, UK, Australia and Germany.

According to Yana Keller, Re/Insurance Editor at Beinsure, overall cyber claims frequency increased 3% in 2025, while average severity declined 19% to approximately $116,000. "The dataset includes substantial exposure to smaller businesses and is not directly comparable with Chubb's large-enterprise figures".

Together, the reports indicate that claims trends differ considerably by company size.

Large businesses face increasing costs associated with operational disruption and legal liabilities, while smaller policyholders have generally experienced lower average claim severity. These differences are becoming more relevant to pricing, risk selection and the structure of cyber insurance coverage.

RANSOMWARE CLAIMS REMAIN THE MOST EXPENSIVE

Ransomware remained the cyber insurance claim category with the highest average severity in Coalition's 2026 report. Initial ransom demands increased approximately 47% year over year, reaching an average above $1 mn.

At the same time, a record 86% of affected businesses reportedly refused to pay attackers, supported by stronger backup procedures and improved incident response.

"Despite the higher refusal rate, average ransomware claim severity reached $269,000, more than twice the $116,000 average across the broader cyber claims portfolio," Tetiana Mykhailova noted. "Business interruption, system restoration, forensic investigations and related expenses continue to generate substantial losses even when ransom payments are avoided".

Beinsure's ransomware insurance analysis - https://beinsure.com/ransomware-evolution/ - identifies these expenses as continuing sources of underwriting pressure.

BEINSURE FORECASTS MORE SELECTIVE CYBER INSURANCE GROWTH

Beinsure's market outlook points to continued expansion in cyber insurance, but with slower premium growth and greater differences in underwriting performance between business segments.

International expansion should provide additional premium opportunities as demand grows outside the US. AM Best expects Europe, Latin America and developed Asian markets to account for an increasing proportion of global premiums.

"Claims severity among large corporations remains a major profitability concern. The increase to $4.4 mn in average large-business claims indicates that business interruption, privacy litigation and complex incident recovery can outweigh improvements in claims frequency," Oleg Parashchak said. "Systemic cyber exposure is another concern. AI-enabled attacks, autonomous agents and reliance on shared digital infrastructure could increase the number of insured organisations affected by a single technological failure or cyber incident".

Global RiskScan 2026 - https://beinsure.com/global-riskscan-cyber-climate-ai-insurance-risks/ - identifies the interaction of cyber, AI and geopolitical risks as an increasingly important consideration for insurers and reinsurers.

The global cyber insurance outlook remains stable, supported by capacity, reinsurance availability and demand for protection. However, competitive pricing and the possibility of large correlated losses require careful underwriting.

Beinsure expects market growth to become more dependent on international insurance penetration, while profitability will increasingly reflect insurers' ability to price large corporate risks, manage ransomware exposure and control accumulations across interconnected technology systems.

Peter Sonner, Lead tech editor at Beinsure
Beinsure.com