Dr.Sigorta Chair Bağcı: Premiums Grew Tenfold in 30 Years

Turusan Bağcı, a lecturer at Şişli Vocational School and chair of Dr.Sigorta's board, said Türkiye's insurance sector has increased per capita premium production roughly tenfold over 30 years, though the gap with Europe remains wide.

Bağcı recalled that on entering the sector in 1996, Türkiye's per capita premium production stood at around $30, against a European average of about $1,200 at the time. Bağcı said Türkiye's insurance sector reached combined life and non-life premium production of TL 1.222 trillion and about 100 million policies in 2025, with per capita premium production climbing to roughly $360.

Bağcı said per capita premium production in Europe is now around $2,500-2,650, noting that as Türkiye grew, Europe grew too, so the gap remains very large. Bağcı said the real question to be discussed is why this gap was not closed further in 30 years and what will be done about it over the next 10 years.

Bağcı said there is much that insurance companies, agencies, brokers, loss adjusters, sector institutions, the public authority and other stakeholders can do. In a country living with risks ranging from earthquakes and floods to fires and economic losses, Bağcı said developing insurance should not be only a commercial goal, adding that the sector has a responsibility toward the country.

Bağcı said debates over "your channel, my channel," "insurer or agency," and "who will earn more" should be set aside in favor of putting the public's insurance penetration and the country at the centre. Bağcı said not everything needs to be reinvented, and that models working well in Europe could be studied and adapted where necessary.

Bağcı said many justifications beginning with "but it won't work in Türkiye because..." come to mind, and that change may need to begin from exactly that point, starting with themselves. Bağcı said the large potential seen 30 years ago still exists today, adding that instead of merely talking about potential, a shared will to realize that potential now needs to be put forward.