GDV

The German Insurance Association (Gesamtverband der Deutschen Versicherungswirtschaft e.V., GDV) represents the interests of the entire German insurance industry. Germany is the second-largest insurance market in the EU and a global leader in reinsurance. In 2024, insurers in Germany wrote gross premiums worth more than 230 bn Euros – a testament to the sector’s role as a cornerstone of the European economy. Insurers safeguard assets, enable economic growth, and help communities and businesses become more resilient in the face of uncertainty.

Our members manage nearly half a billion contracts on behalf of their customers. In property & casualty insurance alone, they handled more than 23 m claims in 2023, translating into more than 63,000 claims per day. Related claims expenditure amounted to 66 bn Euros in the same year, averaging 181 m Euros per day, or 126,000 Euros per minute. German life insurers paid out 101.8 bn Euros in 2024 supporting old-age provision and pensions, an increase of 2,8 percent from the previous year. These payments represent a substantial contribution to the societal functioning of the country. 

GDV members are an important contributor to economy and society. The German insurance industry employs about 480,000 people. Insurers contribute about 25 bn Euros annually to the German exchequer. With around 1.9 tn in assets, German insurers represent the largest institutional investors in the country. Each year, they channel from 200 to 300 bn Euros into new investments, over 70 percent of which are invested within the Eurozone, underlining the industry’s role as a key European economic growth enabler. 

The GDV is actively involved in turning the vision of Europe into reality time and again. This is a reality that the over 470 German insurance companies represented by the GDV can help to shape. They offer more than 476 million insurance contracts – in Germany and beyond.

Brussels is one of the hubs where people work on the European idea and its implementation. This is the metropolis in which Europe lives. People from all over the continent meet here to lead the community into a new generation and to continue the dream. A large part of the European administration is located here: people who deliberate on laws and regulations. Who are firm believers and want to lead the European Union through any challenges and into a new future.

This epicenter of law-shaping is also home to the German Insurance Association (GDV), one of the largest representatives of the European insurance industry. The GDV is on site when important political decisions are being made. With its international team of experts, it acts as an interface between the politics of Brussels and the members of the GDV. This association is therefore well-versed in the local legislative environment and knows how to assess it.

The work of the GDV in Brussels is focused on exchange, dialog and cooperation: The international team records news and developments right in the center of the action. They put them into context and make them available to the GDV in Berlin and to its members. In addition, they provide important impulses. They inject the deep expertise of the insurers, their sense for hidden risks and their absorption into local decision-making processes. This involves staying in constant exchange while upholding both the necessary distance and proximity.