Life Insurance premiums and policy issuances surge in May 2024

The Life Insurance Council has announced robust growth figures for the Indian life insurance sector in May 2024. The new business premiums (NBPs) underwritten by Indian life insurers grew by 15.15% year-over-year (YoY), while the year-to-date (YTD) figures recorded a substantial 31.2% increase over the same period last year.

This growth is attributed to a strong demand for enhanced insurance protection from both individual and corporate consumers.

The life insurance sector saw its NBPs increase from ₹23,448 crore in May 2023 to ₹27,034 crore in May 2024. This growth of 15.15% Y-o-Y highlights the increasing appetite for life insurance among Indian consumers. On a YTD basis, the premiums grew from ₹36,043 crore to ₹47,293 crore, marking a 31.2% rise.

Additionally, new policy issuances grew by 12.45% in May 2024 compared to the same month last year, with 18,68,096 new policies issued against 16,61,324 policies in May 2023. This growth signifies the rising importance of life insurance for financial protection among the Indian populace.

Detailed Breakdown of Premium Growth

According to the data released by the LI Council, individual single premiums grew by 18.3% YoY, reaching ₹3,351 crore in May 2024. On a YTD basis, this segment saw a 21.49% growth. Individual non-single premiums also witnessed 18.7% growth in May 2024 to ₹6,916 crore, with YTD collections up by 20.14%.

Combined individual premium collections for May 2024 showed an 18.58% growth, and the YTD figures grew by 20.6%. The group policy segment also performed well, with single premiums growing by 16.7%, reaching ₹15,976 crore in May 2024. The group policy category saw a 13.15% growth in premiums collected and a 21.15% increase in new policy issuances YoY.

Sector-Wide Efforts to Expand Access and Improve Penetration

The Indian life insurance industry has been proactive in expanding access to insurance, targeting previously underserved areas and segments of the population. Life insurers added over 1,30,000 individual life insurance agents in the past year, despite an overall 0.2% drop in cumulative agent count due to attrition.

The pace of agent addition, combined with the high speed of digitization by life insurers, is expected to drive further gains in insurance penetration. This effort should significantly boost new business premiums in FY25 and beyond, helping more Indians secure their financial futures.