The number of health insurance companies in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates is considerable. We expect some of them to leave the market or merge.

The number of insurers in the health insurance markets in the UAE and Saudi Arabia is high, so all will not be able to continue, said Fitch Ratings.

The agency said in a recent report that the health insurance market in both countries included a large number of companies with a small market share, given the strong competition and the low profitability.

Fitch added that several insurance companies would stop working or merge with their competitors in the coming years, indicating that this could have positive effects on the quality of credit in the markets in general, by the departure of small companies from Insurance and reduce competitive pressure on the remaining companies.

In Saudi Arabia, health insurance companies are expected to continue to decline in the near term, as earnings are affected by rising claims costs, putting additional pressure on profitability.