Millions around the world are facing financial vulnerability and insurers have been told they need to step up to support plans to strengthen economies.

The call was made by the Geneva association in its new white paper, Insurance as a Core Element of Financial Inclusion in Emerging Economies.

It warned households across emerging markets remain highly exposed to financial shocks despite major advances in the use of financial services. More than 1.3 billion adults worldwide are still outside formal financial systems, and many more remain under-insured, leaving them vulnerable to health emergencies, climate events, and income disruptions.

Drawing on a comparative survey across Brazil, China, India, Mexico, Morocco, South Africa, and Türkiye, the report found that while 70–90% of consumers view insurance as useful, significant protection gaps persist in property, disability, and savings-type life insurance. With respondents citing medical costs as their largest financial concern, medical insurance has the highest uptake across countries. Affordability remains a major barrier to purchasing coverage. China and India exhibit the highest insurance adoption levels, supported by digital ecosystems and public schemes.

Jad Ariss, managing director of the Geneva Association, said, “Financial vulnerability remains a daily reality for millions. Insurance provides stability where savings and credit fall short – protecting households from shocks that can erase years of progress. To drive inclusive growth, we must close protection gaps and make insurance affordable at scale, especially for low-income and underserved communities.”

The report identified three priorities to drive progress:

> Commercial innovation: Simple, valuable, digitally enabled products, with distribution models across telecoms, microfinance, retail, and embedded insurance.

> Public-policy alignment: Positioning insurance as a central financial inclusion pillar, supported by digital IDs, payment infrastructure, and fiscal incentives.

> Enabling regulation: Sandboxes, digital onboarding, composite products, and strong consumer-protection frameworks.

Kai-Uwe Schanz, director Financial Inclusion at the Geneva Association, added, “Our findings show that most uninsured respondents believe they could obtain coverage if they need it. The challenge therefore is not access, but affordability, product relevance, and trust. Insurers must design simple, cost-efficient products and harness digital data along the value chain, while policymakers integrate insurance into national financial inclusion strategies and support demand through literacy programmes and targeted subsidies.”

The report explained: “Financial inclusion has become a central pillar of sustainable economic development, particularly across emerging economies, where high levels of income volatility, widespread informal employment, and limited social protection systems leave households vulnerable to financial shocks.

“Despite global progress in expanding access to insurance, savings, credit, and digital payments, more than 1.3 billion adults worldwide remain excluded from formal financial services, with many more underserved. These gaps include insurance, where protection levels lag far behind needs, leaving societies exposed to health emergencies, natural disasters, crop failures, and economic disruption.”

It added: “While payment services, savings, and credit have historically dominated financial inclusion agendas, insurance plays a unique role that cannot be substituted by other tools.

“Savings accumulate slowly and are often depleted during emergencies, while credit creates repayment obligations also at moments when households are least able to shoulder them. Insurance alone provides risk pooling and transfer, enabling households to withstand shocks such as health crises, accidents, and natural disasters without falling into poverty or liquidating essential assets.

“Insurance also supports productivity-enhancing risk taking, such as investing in education or technology. By safeguarding the benefits of savings and credit, insurance strengthens the entire financial ecosystem and ensures that unexpected shocks do not erase developmental gains.”