Life insurance premiums jump 40% in December after GST relief
What's the story
India's life insurance sector witnessed its best monthly performance of the fiscal year in December, with a nearly 40% year-on-year growth in new business premiums (NBP). The surge was largely due to the affordability boost from the rationalization of Goods and Services Tax (GST) on individual life insurance policies. According to data from the Life Insurance Council, first-year premium income jumped by 39.5% YoY to ₹42,151 crore last month.
Market leaders
LIC leads the growth with 57% surge
State-owned Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) spearheaded the growth, witnessing a massive 57.45% YoY jump in new business premiums to ₹21,294 crore. The company's group single premium business, its largest segment, saw an 80% increase to ₹14,731 crore from ₹8,374 crore last December. Individual policy premiums also rose by 27% to ₹6,563 crore during this period.
Private sector performance
Private insurers also witness significant growth
Private life insurers collectively witnessed a 25% jump in premiums to ₹20,857 crore last month. Among the major players, SBI Life Insurance recorded a 19% YoY rise in December premiums to ₹6,336.96 crore while HDFC Life Insurance's premiums rose by 14.55% to ₹3,108 crore. ICICI Prudential Life Insurance and Max Life Insurance also posted impressive gains with increases of 25% (₹1,945 crore) and 24.97% (₹1,567.72 crore), respectively.
Overall performance
Policy issuance and cumulative growth in premiums
Policy issuance remained strong in December with life insurers selling 28 lakh policies, a 35.44% YoY increase. For the April-December period of the current fiscal year, life insurers recorded a 13% rise in new business premiums with total premiums reaching ₹3.11 lakh crore. LIC reported a 12.34% rise to ₹1.77 lakh crore while private insurers posted a 14% growth to ₹1.33 lakh crore during this period.