Global commercial insurance rates declined by 4% in the fourth quarter of 2025, marking the sixth consecutive quarter of rate decreases, after seven years of increases, according to the published by Marsh Risk, a business of Marsh.
“Growing competition among insurers, coupled with a favorable loss environment and reinsurance pricing, were the primary drivers for the rate decline along with increased market capacity,” Marsh Risk said in a statement. (Editor’s note: Marsh’s Global Insurance Market Index skews toward larger account business).
The main exception to the general softening trend was US casualty where rates increased by 9% during Q4 2025, compared to 8% in Q3, and workers’ compensation rates rose 12%.
With the exception of the US, all global regions experienced year-over-year composite rate decreases in Q4 2025. The overall composite rate in the US 鈥� which declined by 1% in Q3 2025 鈥� was flat in Q4 2025.
The Pacific region experienced the steepest composite rate decline at 12%, while the IMEA region (India, the Middle East, and Africa) saw rate decreases of 10% on average. Composite rates declined in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), the UK, and Canada by 7%. In Europe and Asia, rates dropped by 6% and 5%, respectively.
“Overall, clients continue to benefit not only from declining rates but also from opportunities to negotiate improved terms and conditions. Competition among insurers is expected to intensify,” commented John Donnelly, president, Global Placement, in an introduction to the Marsh index.
He noted that one driver for declining rates and increased competition could be lower reinsurance costs. “Barring an extremely large catastrophe loss, or series of losses, global rates will likely continue to trend downward.”
Marsh said that many clients, particularly those with good risk profiles, “used the competitive environment to negotiate improved terms, enhance coverage, and explore alternative risk transfer solutions such as self-insurance and captives.”
Global Product Line Trends
Property rates declined by 9% globally, while US property rates decreased by 8%, compared to 9% in the US in Q3 2025. Marsh attributed this apparent moderation in US property rate decreases to renewal timing. “As the proportion of catastrophe-driven placements with larger rate decreases was lower than in prior periods, the general pace of decrease slowed quarter-over-quarter.”
Property insurance rates in the Pacific region saw the largest decrease of 14%.
Casualty rates increased 4% globally 鈥� up from a 3% increase in Q3 鈥� which was driven by a 9% increase in the US (compared with 8% in Q3 in the US).
Casualty rates in Latin America and the Caribbean’s were flat, while all other regions experienced decreases of 1% to 9%.
Rates in financial and professional lines (FINPRO) decreased by 4% globally (compared to a 5% decrease in Q3 2025), declining in every region except the US, where rates were flat. FINPRO rates decreased by 4% globally in the fourth quarter, compared to a 5% decrease in Q3.
Cyber insurance rates decreased by 7% globally, declining in every region.
“The cyber insurance market continues to expand as rising client demand coincides with a growing frequency of cyber events,” Donnelly said, noting that more more clients are either purchasing cyber coverage for the first time or increasing their existing limits.
“This growth is supported by increased capital from insurers and their capital providers to address escalating risks. The influx of capacity has intensified competition, leading to rate declines across all regions,” he added.
US Casualty Market
The US casualty market bucked the general trend toward a softening market with rate increases attributed to ongoing insurer concerns about the frequency and severity of casualty claims, including large jury awards, called “nuclear” verdicts.
US casualty insurance rates increased by 9%, compared to 8% in the prior quarter, while workers’ compensation saw an average increase of 12%.
“Workers’ compensation insurers remained focused on rising reserves and medical costs, both of which have the potential to drive future rate increases,” the report continued.
The US umbrella/excess liability market experienced even higher rate hikes than primary lines, said Marsh, pointing to risk-adjusted rate rises of 19%, compared to 16% in Q3. Marsh said that some insurers offered a maximum of $10 million per risk due to adverse developments in the US litigation environment.
US FINPRO and Cyber Trends
US financial and professional lines rates were flat, following a 2% decrease in the prior quarter. Directors and officers (D&O) liability rates increased 1%; insurers resisted the large decreases seen over the past three years.
Cyber insurance rates in the US decreased 3%, the same as in the prior quarter, marking the 11th consecutive quarter which experienced a rate decrease.
US cyber capacity remained stable, Marsh Risk said, with no additional capacity anticipated soon; some insurers even withdrew capacity when they deemed pricing as inadequate.
Excess cyber insurers increasingly moved down insurance program towers to retain more premium, but Marsh said that high excess layers were generally challenging to place compared to previous quarters.
*Note: All references to rate and rate movements in this report are averages, unless otherwise noted. For ease of reporting, Marsh has rounded all percentages regarding rate movements to the nearest whole number.
Topics Trends Commercial Lines Business Insurance Pricing Trends
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