AXA Private Health Insurance for Expats: Company Profile and Key Figures

If you are considering AXA private health insurance as an expat, it helps to know who stands behind the policy. This page summarises what AXA Krankenversicherung AG reports about itself for 2025: its legal form, its key financial figures and what they mean in plain English. It is a factual profile, not a ranking or a recommendation. It was last reviewed on 16 October 2026.

Company profile

• Legal entity: AXA Krankenversicherung AG
• Legal form: Aktiengesellschaft (AG), a stock company
• Persons in full cover (2025): 816,046 persons in full cover (Vollversicherte). Total insured persons across all products: 1,762,273
• Official website: www.axa.de/

Legal form: AG versus mutual (a.G.)

German private health insurers come in two main legal forms. A mutual insurance association (Versicherungsverein auf Gegenseitigkeit, VVaG, written "a.G.") is owned by its policyholders, who are its members. A stock company (Aktiengesellschaft, AG) is owned by shareholders. AXA Krankenversicherung AG is an AG.

What this means for you as a policyholder: the legal form tells you who owns the company, not how financially sound it is or how good a given tariff is. Both forms are insurers under insurance supervision and both publish their figures. Ownership and governance differ, but the figures in the next section are a more direct way to look at the company than the label alone.

Key financial figures

The table shows AXA's reported figures for the 2025 reporting year next to market figures where available. The market column is context, not a judgment: a figure that differs from the market is not good or bad in itself.

Claims ratio figures follow the private health insurance association's formula. Without the volatility adjustment the SFCR reports 287 % (2024: 305 %). The SFCR states that no other transitional measures are applied; only the volatility adjustment is used. Market ratios are taken from the industry column of the Debeka annual report 2025, which follows the association's key-figure catalogue. Market totals are from the association's press release of 10 June 2026.

Acquisition costs. The AXA annual report does not print an acquisition cost ratio. It reports acquisition expenses (Abschlussaufwendungen) of EUR 267.3 million for 2025 (2024: EUR 239.9 million) and states that the ratio rose. We do not calculate a ratio ourselves, so the table shows it as not disclosed.

What the figures mean

• Solvency ratio. Under the EU Solvency II rules, insurers must hold a minimum level of capital against the risks they carry. The solvency ratio divides the insurer's eligible own funds by that required capital. A value of 100 % means own funds equal the requirement; AXA reports 303 % for 2025. Insurers may use measures such as a volatility adjustment, which is why the report also shows the ratio without it. The ratio is a snapshot at year-end, not a forecast.
• Ageing provisions (Alterungsrückstellung). In private health insurance, you pay more than your current-age risk in the early years. The surplus is set aside as ageing provisions to help pay for higher healthcare costs later, so premiums do not have to rise only because you get older. Large provisions mean a large pool is set aside for this purpose. They are not money you can withdraw.
• RfB ratio. The Rückstellung für Beitragsrückerstattung is a reserve funded from surpluses. It is used to pay refunds to policyholders and to cushion premium increases, for example for older insured persons. A higher ratio means a larger buffer relative to premiums, but the buffer can be drawn down, which is why the 2024 and 2025 values are shown.
• Administrative and acquisition cost ratios. These show the share of premiums spent on running the company and on winning new customers (including commissions). Lower is not automatically better, because service levels differ.
• Claims ratio (Schadenquote). The share of premium income paid out for benefits, calculated with the association's formula. It reflects the claims mix of the portfolio and changes from year to year.
• Net investment return. The return on invested capital after costs. Because ageing provisions are invested, returns matter for the long-term calculation of premiums.
• Surplus usage ratio. The share of surplus that goes back to policyholders, through refunds, the RfB or premium limitation, rather than to the company.

Premium adjustments: what the reports say

Private health premiums are not fixed for life. They can be adjusted when the actuarial calculation requires it, for example because of higher medical costs. Our premium increases explainer covers how adjustments are triggered, what you can do when one arrives and why the tariff's own history matters.

For AXA, the documents we reviewed say the following:

• Premium income grew 3.5 % in 2025, which the annual report says includes a "moderate" premium adjustment (Beitragsanpassung) in full and supplementary cover. No percentage for the adjustment is stated.
• The company reports withdrawing EUR 233.8 million from the RfB to mitigate premium increases (2024: EUR 228.3 million).
• For 2026 the annual report expects an "above-average" premium adjustment and clearly higher premium growth. No percentage is stated.

Premium adjustments are set per tariff, so the company-level information above says little about what any single tariff will do. Ask for the increase history of the exact tariff, and remember that under §204 VVG you can generally switch to another tariff at the same insurer and keep your ageing provisions.

Who it may suit as an expat

We keep this section to what can be checked. AXA Krankenversicherung AG offers private health insurance in Germany, and its reports show a substantial portfolio of fully insured persons. Whether you can join depends on your status: employees above €84,150 gross per year (€7,012.50 per month) from 2027 (€77,400 in 2026), and freelancers or civil servants at any income, as set out in our eligibility guide. The 2027 figure was approved by the federal cabinet and still needs Bundesrat approval, expected in November 2026. Acceptance also depends on a health assessment.

English-language service: not verified in the documents we reviewed. Ask in writing which services, policy documents and claims channels are available in English before you apply.

Make sure you are being offered full private health insurance (Vollversicherung), not a short-term visa plan, if you need cover for long-term residence. See our overview of insurers by profile for context.

Financial strength is one factor among several

A company's figures tell you something about the insurer. They do not tell you whether a particular tariff fits you. Tariff choice usually matters more: the scope of cover, the deductible, sick pay if you are self-employed, the premium history of that exact tariff and your own health profile all shape what you pay and receive over decades. Compare at least three tariffs side by side before you decide.

FAQ

Sources

Figures as reported for 2025 and checked on 16 October 2026. Always confirm details with the insurer and your own advisor.

• Company figures and solvency ratio: AXA Krankenversicherung AG, Solvency and Financial Condition Report (SFCR) 2025.
• Premiums, insured persons, provisions, ratios, premium adjustments: AXA Krankenversicherung AG, annual report 2025 (Geschäftsbericht).
• Market averages (cost, claims, return, RfB and surplus ratios, 2025): Debeka Krankenversicherung, annual report 2025, industry column.
• Market totals (premium income, ageing provisions, full-cover insured persons): Private health insurance association, press release of 10 June 2026.