Kathmandu. Despite nearly a decade of micro-insurance regulation, more than 52 percent of Nepal’s population is still uninsured. This raises the question of whether the expansion of microinsurance is really reaching the most marginalized communities.
The Nepal Insurance Authority’s report for the year 2025 has highlighted the challenges of regulatory reform and micro insurers. However, there is limited discussion about the structural barriers faced by the poor and the extremely impoverished.
The report does not include gender-disaggregated data, rural penetration analysis, impact assessment of the most impoverished groups, data on disability inclusion, and evidence of impact in remote mountain districts.
The directive identifies low-income households, marginalized communities and residents of deprivation areas as the categories to be covered under micro-insurance.
Many insurers are competing within accessible urban and rural markets, rather than expanding to the poorest of the poor.
Experts have noted that the expansion of micro insurance has not been easy due to the lack of targeted grants, public-private risk partnerships, strong partnerships with cooperatives and local governments, and flexible qualifications for appointing agents in remote areas. They also expressed concern that microinsurance could completely fail to bridge the safety gap between the most vulnerable.
The NRA acknowledges data and details limitations in the report and plans to submit a gender-discriminatory report from next fiscal year.
