Dive Brief:
- Cyber insurance prices are expected to remain flat through at least the first half of 2026, after “market softening conditions” that began three years ago have now mostly stabilized, according to global insurance broker Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.
- The industry’s pricing has retreated from the highs that occurred in the very beginning of the “hard market cycle” of the first of half of 2021, Gallagher said in a 2026 cyber insurance outlook report released this month.
- “We attribute this to the market dynamics of carrier competition, as underwriters feel the pressure of ambitious growth targets,” the report said. However, not every industry is seeing lower cyber insurance prices, according to Gallagher. The healthcare sector is an example, where cyber insurance competition is “less fierce due to the claims environment,” pushing prices “slightly higher,” it said.
Dive Insight:
The total value of the global cyber insurance market could reach as much as $50 billion by 2030, up from between $16 billion to $20 billion in 2025, according to the research.
The market saw a dramatic expansion from 2020 to 2022, with a peak year-over-year growth of nearly 61% in 2021, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners said in a report last year.
“This period of rapid premium increases reflects the market’s reaction to a more complex and volatile cyber threat landscape,” according to the NAIC report. “Following this surge, growth slowed significantly to 1.62% in 2023. The market then contracted for the first time in this period, declining by 7.11% in 2024.”
While the cyber insurance market remains mostly buyer-friendly, ransomware and supply chain risks endure, with artificial intelligence poised to intensify the threat landscape this year, according to the Gallagher study.
“As the industry moves into 2026, insurers are expected to refine policy language, address AI-related exposures and focus on practice risk management strategies to mitigate the impact of deepfake technology, social engineering and supply chain disruptions,” the insurance broker said.
