The Dublin International Insurance & Management Association (DIMA) said its members wrote $31 billion (EUR22 billion at the current exchange rate) in gross written premium while netting premiums of $26 billion (EUR18 billion) last year.
DIMA represents companies writing non-Irish insurance, life and non-life reinsurance business, including captive management.
"Dublin has been developing as an international center for insurance and reinsurance for almost 20 years now," Sarah Goddard, chief executive officer of DIMA, said in a statement.
"These figures reinforce the position of Dublin as one of the leading global reinsurance and insurance marketplaces, and we are delighted to say that we are still seeing new entrants to the market, despite the prevailing conditions in the wider business environment," she said.
Dublin's reinsurance community wrote EUR16.9 billion ($24 billion) in gross written premiums in 2007, according to DIMA's survey, with net premiums of EUR15.2 billion ($21.7 billion).
DIMA said these are the first statistics issued with respect to the Irish international reinsurance market since the regulations in the Reinsurance Directive approved by the European Parliament were implemented by member states.
The statistics, which are based on a voluntary questionnaire, show that around 900 people are employed in DIMA member companies. The total assets of the DIMA members which responded to the survey were EUR81.1 billion ($115.7 billion) in 2007, total capital and surplus was EUR20.1 billion ($28.7 billion), and total cash and investments was EUR40.6 billion ($57.9 billion). The total tax paid by the survey respondents came to EUR612 million ($873 million).
DIMA said the figures do not include international life insurance business, which in 2007 recorded gross premium income of EUR20.5 billion ($29 billion).
When asked about their business prospects for 2008, 80 percent of DIMA members said they expected their business in Dublin to increase or stay the same this year.
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