Report: Texas Insurance Industry Impacts State Economy in a Big Way

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A new study commissioned by group of state and national trade associations shows that the insurance industry — including both the property/casualty and life/health sectors — positively impacts the Texas economy.

For instance:

The industry is one of the largest purchasers of municipal bonds in Texas. Insurers financed public works across the state with a holding of $53.4 billion in Texas municipal bonds at the end of 2013.
The industry is the sixth largest source of tax revenue in Texas, with insurers paying $3.5 billion in taxes during the 2014-15 biennium
The insurance industry payroll of $15.8 billion in 2013 provided jobs for 247,032 Texans.
Texas ranked second among states in catastrophic claims payments in 2013. Property/casualty insurers paid more than $1.5 billion in claims caused by 10 catastrophic events that year.

Except for insurance carrier investment data, information contained in the report shown below, “The Insurance Industry’s Impact on the Texas Economy 2015,” was obtained through publicly available sources, including the Insurance Information Institute, the Texas Department of Insurance and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, according to the report’s author, Richard Wiebe of Pacific Crest Public Affairs. Investment data was sourced through A.M. Best.

Weibe said the report is a good resource for communicating with lawmakers. He prepares a similar report for California every two years.

“It is important that legislators understand what a strong presence the insurance industry has in the state,” Weibe said. “New legislators come in and they don’t recognize the presence of insurance in their community, but every community has some sort of insurance presence,” he said.

In addition to direct economic impact, the report also highlights the insurance industry’s charitable and educational contributions.

“This report can serve as an excellent resource for our members when discussing the positive impact of the property and casualty insurance throughout this state, and the critical importance of this industry to our state’s growing economy,” said Albert Betts, Jr., Executive Director of ICT.

The report was commissioned by: