It is estimated that only eighty million out of the world's 2.5 billion poor are now covered by some form of micro insurance. Most remain without access to this critical financial service. In India and China, where organizations are estimated to serve nearly 30 million micro insurance clients each, the percentage of poor lives insured hovers below 3%. In Africa this figure is much lower – just 0.3% of the continent’s poor are insured. According to recent data, in 23 of the poorest 100 countries in the world, there is currently no identified micro insurance activity, representing an unserved population of 370 million.

Publications

Martina Wiedmaier-Pfister, Matthew Jowett, Dante O. Portula, Gilberto M. Llanto. "Microinsurance Innovations Project(MIP) in the Philippines - Pre-appraisal Report." GTZ. July 2007
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Roth, Jim, Michael McCord and Dominic Liber. “The Landscape of Microinsurance in the World’s 100 Poorest Countries.” Micro Insurance Centre. May 2007.

Churchill, Craig, ed. “Protecting the Poor: A Microinsurance Compendium.” International Labour Office. November 2006.

Leftley, Richard and Shadreck Mapfumo, “Effective Micro Insurance Programs to Reduce Vulnerability.” Opportunity International Network. September 2006.

Churchill, Craig, Dirk Reinhard and Zahid Qureshi. “Making Insurance Work for the Poor.” Munich Re Foundation. January 2006.

Leftley, Richard. “Technical Assistance for the Promotion of Microinsurance: The Experience of Opportunity International.” CGAP Working Group on Microinsurance. Case Study No. 11. June 2005.

Websites

The Micro Insurance Focus Resource Center
http://www.microfinancegateway.com/resource_centers/insurance
Promotes sound practices in insurance provision to low-income persons through the exchange of knowledge and experience. Managed by the CGAP Working Group on Microinsurance.