Global insurance rates moderated throughout last year, with four consecutive quarters where the rate of decline decreased.

The Marsh Global Insurance Market Index is a benchmark of commercial insurance premium rate change at renewal representing the world’s major insurance markets and comprising 90 per cent of Marsh’s premium.

The insurance broker and risk management company started the index in 2012, and the latest figures show that insurance rates in the fourth quarter of 2016 declined, making it the fifteenth consecutive quarter when rates have fallen.

Marsh noted that this is largely due to “a global market with substantial capacity and an absence of significant catastrophe losses”.

However, the composite rate change shows that the rate of decline moderated in each quarter of 2016, starting at a decline rate of 3.8 per cent in the first quarter and a final quarter decline of 3.1 per cent.