The Austria Financial Market Authority has published its 2026 Foreign Insurance Business Report, showing that the five internationally active Austrian insurance groups expanded their business abroad again in 2025. Foreign premium volume rose 10.7% year on year to EUR 14.3 billion, exceeding domestic premium volume of EUR 11.3 billion and lifting the foreign share of total premium income to 56%. Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe remained the core region for Austrian insurers' overseas business. The Czech Republic and Poland were the largest foreign markets, accounting for 22% and 18% of foreign premium volume respectively, while Romania, Hungary, Turkey and Slovakia each represented more than 5%. Together, those six markets made up about 70% of total foreign premium volume. Austrian insurers recorded their highest market shares in the Czech Republic and Slovakia at just over 40%, followed by Lithuania at 35% and Romania at 33%. The report also highlights the supervisory implications of this cross-border business model. The authority pointed to the need for closely coordinated cross-border supervision through ongoing exchanges with local supervisors, particularly via European supervisory colleges. For the current year, it expects a marked shift in the geographic focus of foreign business following Vienna Insurance Group's acquisition of Germany's Nürnberger Versicherung.

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