LIC drives new biz premium growth of life insurance companies in July

The growth in the premium was driven by LIC, while a high base effect impacted the improvement of private life insurers, analysts said

The new business premium of life insurers increased 14.19 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) at Rs 31,823 crore in July, primarily driven by strong growth in state-run Life Insurance Corporation of India’s (LIC’s) business.

According to the latest data from Life Insurance Council, LIC’s premium rose 20 per cent Y-o-Y to Rs 18,431 crore, while private insurers posted a 7 per cent rise in their premiums at Rs 13,392 crore. Analysts said high base effects limited the growth of private life insurers.

LIC’s premium growth in July was driven by a 22.74 per cent Y-o-Y increase in its group business that reached Rs 12,838 crore.

The industry’s individual business grew 20.69 per cent, with individual single premiums rising by 24.82 per cent at Rs 4,611 crore and non-single premiums increasing to Rs 9,171 crore in July.

Among private sector life insurers, SBI Life Insurance, the largest in the segment, reported a 26.3 per cent decline in first-year premiums at Rs 2,996 crore, while HDFC Life clocked 33.7 per cent growth at Rs 2,699 crore.

Other major players, including ICICI Prudential Life, Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance, and Max Life Insurance, reported premium growth of 7.36 per cent, 60.5 per cent, and 27.8 per cent, respectively.

During the April-July period, the new business premiums (NBP) increased 20.5 per cent to Rs 1.21 trillion. LIC’s premium jumped nearly 26 per cent to Rs 75,871 crore, while private insurers recorded a 12.3 per cent increase at Rs 45,678 crore.

Life insurers posted 8.9 per cent growth in the number of policies sold during the April-July period compared to last year.