Comparative overview of the state of agricultural insurance in Serbia and Croatia

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to assess the level of agricultural insurance development for family agricultural farms in Serbia and Croatia. To that end, a comparative analysis of the characteristics of agricultural insurance and of the level of its development for family agricultural farms was conducted for these two countries, which were taken as comparative examples due to significant similarities relevant for the subject of research. According to the categorization of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the territories of both countries are dominated by rural areas which are, according to the structure of the agricultural entities, dominated by family agricultural farms, while agriculture has approximately the same share in gross domestic product (GDP) of both countries. The author analyzes the development of agricultural insurance from 2006 to 2018, with family agricultural farms that can be considered micro enterprises important for the growth of the insurance industry in the observed countries. Based on the conducted research, the author concludes that in both Serbia and Croatia, agricultural insurance of family agricultural farms is underdeveloped and that there are significant opportunities for the growth of the insurance industry in this market segment. In 2018, only 3.99% of all family agricultural farms in Serbia were insured, with this percentage being 4.26% in Croatia. Bearing in mind that supply is satisfactory, that solvency should not be viewed as a problem, as is often done, given there is significant subsidization of agricultural insurance premiums, it will be necessary, before all, to develop demand.