Major insurer Zurich delivered strong revenue growth in 2025, with its property and casualty (P&C) division’s gross written premiums (GWP) exceeding $50 billion for the first time, up 5% year-on-year, and the division’s business operating profit (BOP) reaching $5.1 billion, up 22% in dollar terms, compared with $46.6 billion in 2024.
The property and casualty insurance combined ratio improved to 92.6%, benefiting from an increase in insurance revenue to $48.2 billion, an increase of 8% in U.S. dollars and a year-on-year increase of 4%, compared with $44.8 billion in the same period last year, due to the continued expansion of the underlying investment portfolio. The division reported overall rate increases of 2%, supported by higher retail rates and continued strength in select commercial product lines.
Commercial insurance profits rose 12% to $3.8 billion, helped by “continued disciplined” portfolio management, good underlying GWP growth in the middle market and specialty product lines and a benign natural disaster season.
Meanwhile, retail balance of payments surged 50%, or $491 million, to $1.5 billion, reflecting 16% premium growth, increased pricing complexity, enhanced risk selection and higher earned premium rates, with particularly strong contributions from the Europe, Middle East and Asia (EMEA) sector.
The insurer’s life business reported GWP growth of 7%, fee income up 13% and continued profit growth, driven by capital-efficient savings and protection products. The reported global warming potential in 2025 is US$36.2 billion, compared with US$33 billion in 2024.
The protection business accounts for nearly 60% of Zurich Life’s balance of payments, and its GWP increased by 5% year-on-year, with growth expected to accelerate to 7% in the second half of 2025 as sales at Zurich’s Brazilian bancassurance joint venture normalized.
Additionally, GWP for the insurer’s policyholder-owned Farmers Exchanges increased 4% to $28.9 billion by 2025, supported by higher new business volumes and improved retention rates. Farmers reported its strongest ever balance of payments of $2.4 billion, with Farmers Management Services (FMS) delivering a record $2.2 billion.
Zurich explained that outstanding underlying underwriting performance enabled Farmers Exchange to end 2025 with a 52.9% margin and a combined ratio of 84.6%, driven by continued strengthening of underlying performance despite the impact of the California wildfires and supported by lower year-over-year catastrophe losses.
All told, Zurich reported the group’s highest-ever operating profit of US$8.9 billion and raised its dividend to CHF30, making strong progress towards its 2027 targets. The company also posted a return on equity of 26.9%, with net profit attributable to shareholders reaching a record $6.8 billion in 2025.
Mario Greco, CEO of Zurich Group, commented: “I am very proud to see all our businesses contributing to these record results, which show that we are well on track to achieve and even exceed our 2027 targets and position us well to seize future growth opportunities. I would like to thank all our customers who continue to reward our customers with even greater loyalty, and my colleagues who have contributed to achieving this outstanding performance.”
Zurich has also nominated Mary Forrest for election to the Board of Directors, and Jasmin Staiblin intends to be appointed Vice Chairman, succeeding Christoph Franz.
