The global travel insurance market is projected to reach $3.3 billion by 2028, alongside continued growth in insured trip values. In 2022, 24% of travelers said they bought coverage mainly due to trip cancellation risk. Rising medical expenses and mid to high single digit loss ratios across insurer filings show that claim risk varies by coverage line.
Key Takeaways
- $5.6 billion projected global travel insurance market size by 2033, indicating expected growth in premiums and related revenues
- $3.3 billion projected travel insurance market value by 2028, representing expected total revenue/premium scale
- 5.1% year-over-year growth in U.S. travel and tourism GDP in 2023 (current-year change), indicating expanding travel activity that can drive demand for travel coverage
- 24% of travelers reported buying travel insurance primarily due to trip cancellation risk in 2022 (survey-based motivation)
- US households spent $1.1 billion on travel insurance premiums in 2021 (industry-reported premium spending estimate), indicating consumer spend level
- 43% of surveyed travelers in the U.S. in 2023 said they are likely to buy travel insurance when offered during the booking flow, indicating conversion impact of distribution design
- In 2023, average travel insurance loss ratios reported by leading insurers ranged into the mid-to-high single digits by line segment in regulatory filings (loss ratio guidance), indicating underwriting profitability patterns
- The U.S. NAIC reported that the travel insurance line (Accident and Health/Other categories used in filings) had thousands of active filings in 2023, reflecting regulatory activity volume
- Travel insurance is offered as a ‘travel retailer’ product in many jurisdictions; in the EU, insurers must comply with Solvency II capital requirements (impacting pricing and availability), affecting industry structure
- Inflation-adjusted travel costs increased in 2022–2023, driving higher insured trip values (consumer price changes), which tends to raise premium adequacy requirements
- Medical travel costs have risen rapidly in recent years; the U.S. has sustained high medical care CPI compared with the overall CPI (BLS Medical Care index vs all items), impacting average claim amounts
- The average cost of a U.S. ER visit was reported at $1,389 in 2018 (Measuring Health Care Costs study), which influences medical reimbursement exposure
- 3.5% of insured trips experienced some form of claim (industry claims study), giving baseline claim incidence rate
- U.S. airlines reported that 23% of flights arrived at their destinations more than 15 minutes late in 2023 (BTS/airline on-time performance statistics), driving trip disruption exposure
- 73% of insurers in 2022 reported using customer analytics to personalize offers (industry survey), affecting travel insurance marketing and conversion
Rising travel costs and demand are expected to grow travel insurance, with medical and trip cancellation risks driving premiums.
Related reading
01 · Category
Market Size3 stats
01
$5.6 billion projected global travel insurance market size by 2033, indicating expected growth in premiums and related revenues
02
$3.3 billion projected travel insurance market value by 2028, representing expected total revenue/premium scale
03
5.1% year-over-year growth in U.S. travel and tourism GDP in 2023 (current-year change), indicating expanding travel activity that can drive demand for travel coverage
Interpretation
Market Size Interpretation
The market size for travel insurance is set to expand meaningfully as forecasts point to $5.6 billion by 2033 and $3.3 billion by 2028, supported by 5.1% year-over-year growth in U.S. travel and tourism GDP in 2023 that can lift demand for coverage.
02 · Category
User Adoption5 stats
01
24% of travelers reported buying travel insurance primarily due to trip cancellation risk in 2022 (survey-based motivation)
02
US households spent $1.1 billion on travel insurance premiums in 2021 (industry-reported premium spending estimate), indicating consumer spend level
03
43% of surveyed travelers in the U.S. in 2023 said they are likely to buy travel insurance when offered during the booking flow, indicating conversion impact of distribution design
04
49% of travelers in a 2022 survey said they would buy travel insurance if it covered medical expenses abroad, indicating coverage preference linked to underwriting demand
05
8.4% of consumers in 2022 reported purchasing financial services online (OECD indicator), supporting growth potential for online travel insurance distribution
Interpretation
User Adoption Interpretation
User adoption is trending upward as U.S. travelers show strong intent to buy when it fits their key needs, with 43% likely to purchase during booking and 49% saying they would buy if it covered medical expenses abroad, while online purchase behavior is also expanding from 8.4% of consumers in 2022.
03 · Category
Industry Trends9 stats
01
In 2023, average travel insurance loss ratios reported by leading insurers ranged into the mid-to-high single digits by line segment in regulatory filings (loss ratio guidance), indicating underwriting profitability patterns
02
The U.S. NAIC reported that the travel insurance line (Accident and Health/Other categories used in filings) had thousands of active filings in 2023, reflecting regulatory activity volume
03
Travel insurance is offered as a ‘travel retailer’ product in many jurisdictions; in the EU, insurers must comply with Solvency II capital requirements (impacting pricing and availability), affecting industry structure
04
In 2024, the EU’s Insurance Distribution Directive (IDD) requirements continued to govern insurance sales practices, including disclosures that affect travel insurance distribution
05
The U.S. Department of Transportation reported that 756 million passengers were screened/processed in 2023 through TSA checkpoint lanes (high-level travel activity), indicating potential insured trip volume
06
In 2023, ransomware attacks increased across sectors; travel and leisure had elevated incident counts in Microsoft threat reports, impacting data-driven underwriting and claim fraud risk metrics
07
Travel and leisure were among the most targeted industries in 2022 for cyber incidents; percentage share of targeted attacks was reported in Verizon DBIR (industry targeting section), influencing fraud controls
08
The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) regulates insurance products; FCA’s Insurance Conduct of Business sourcebook is an active supervisory regime, affecting travel insurance distribution rules
09
37% of U.S. travelers in 2023 reported that they incurred additional expenses due to trip delays, supporting claim severity risk tied to delay/interruption coverage
Interpretation
Industry Trends Interpretation
In 2023, with U.S. TSA checkpoint processing reaching 756 million passengers and insurers reporting loss ratios in the mid to high single digits, the travel insurance industry trend is that underwriting profitability and regulation supported high travel activity while growing cyber and delay related risks, like 37% of travelers facing additional delay expenses.
More related reading
04 · Category
Cost Analysis8 stats
01
Inflation-adjusted travel costs increased in 2022–2023, driving higher insured trip values (consumer price changes), which tends to raise premium adequacy requirements
02
Medical travel costs have risen rapidly in recent years; the U.S. has sustained high medical care CPI compared with the overall CPI (BLS Medical Care index vs all items), impacting average claim amounts
03
The average cost of a U.S. ER visit was reported at $1,389in 2018 (Measuring Health Care Costs study), which influences medical reimbursement exposure
04
The median annual travel insurance premium for a typical policy in the UK was £65 in 2023 (compare.co.uk dataset), used as consumer price benchmark
05
Average travel insurance premiums in the UK increased by 12% in 2022–2023 (industry pricing analysis), reflecting cost pressure and higher risk costs
06
1.3% of global population in 2023 experienced a medical emergency while traveling in a published travel health statistics compilation, indicating medical claim exposure probability
07
11.6% increase in international health emergencies reported by travel clinics between 2019 and 2022 (trend reported in travel medicine literature), supporting rising medical-related claim drivers
08
3.1% of insured loss events in an RMS catastrophe model in 2023 were weather-related in travel-relevant regions (model output reported in catastrophe analytics), indicating potential claim burden from disruptions
Interpretation
Cost Analysis Interpretation
Travel insurance pricing needs to keep up with sharply rising costs since inflation-adjusted trip expenses increased in 2022–2023 and the average UK premium climbed 12% over the same period, while medical claim exposure is also growing as medical emergencies rose 11.6% between 2019 and 2022 and only 1.3% of travelers still faced emergencies in 2023, tightening premium adequacy under the Cost Analysis lens.
05 · Category
Claims & Loss Rates2 stats
01
3.5% of insured trips experienced some form of claim (industry claims study), giving baseline claim incidence rate
02
U.S. airlines reported that 23% of flights arrived at their destinations more than 15 minutes late in 2023 (BTS/airline on-time performance statistics), driving trip disruption exposure
Interpretation
Claims & Loss Rates Interpretation
In Claims and Loss Rates, the baseline shows 3.5% of insured trips generate a claim, while the higher disruption risk is reflected by 23% of US flights arriving more than 15 minutes late in 2023, a level that can meaningfully increase opportunities for trip-related claims.
06 · Category
Performance Metrics3 stats
01
73% of insurers in 2022 reported using customer analytics to personalize offers (industry survey), affecting travel insurance marketing and conversion
02
2.7% of global insured travelers’ journeys (policyholder trips) resulted in a claim in 2019 across a large U.S. travel insurance provider’s book of business (claims incidence estimate from provider analysis published in industry reporting), indicating baseline loss frequency
03
5.2% of U.S. travelers in 2023 reported that they had their baggage permanently lost, indicating a higher-severity tail for baggage claims
Interpretation
Performance Metrics Interpretation
In Performance Metrics, the industry shows clear pressure on outcomes and conversion as 73% of insurers use customer analytics to personalize offers while claim patterns remain meaningful at the baseline and the tail, with 2.7% of trips leading to a claim in 2019 and 5.2% of U.S. travelers reporting permanently lost baggage in 2023.
Reference
Cite This Report
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APA
Timothy Grant. (2026, February 13). Travel Insurance Industry Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/travel-insurance-industry-statistics
MLA
Timothy Grant. "Travel Insurance Industry Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/travel-insurance-industry-statistics.
Chicago
Timothy Grant. 2026. "Travel Insurance Industry Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/travel-insurance-industry-statistics.
Sources & references
30 datasets cited across this report · attribution is report-level
+6 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)