 "LIC")
Life insurers collected 43.76 per cent higher new business premium (NBP) in December 2023 year-on-year (Y-o-Y) on the back of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC)'s strong performance. The NBP of LIC, which has been looking to arrest a fall in its market share, almost doubled. This was also the first month in the current financial year when market leader LIC's NBP grew.
NBP refers to premium acquired from new policies for a particular period and is a key indicator of insurance sector growth.
The life insurance industry earned premiums worth Rs 38,583 crore last month, up 43.8 per cent from Rs 26,838.3 crore in the year-ago period, according to data released by Life Insurance Council. Public sector giant LIC’s premiums soared 93.8 per cent to Rs 22,981.3 crore from Rs 11,858.5 crore on the back of multifold growth in group business (where many people are covered in the same contract).
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Meanwhile, private insurers’ premiums grew 4.15 per cent Y-o-Y to Rs 15,601.8 crore from Rs 14,979.8 crore.
The group single premium business of LIC rose by 195 per cent to Rs 17,601.9 crore from Rs 5,966.9 crore in the year-ago period. The overall group premium for December 2023 stood at Rs 17,812.5 crore against Rs 6,407.4 crore for the same month last year.
Among private insurance companies, SBI Life Insurance, the largest private insurer, reported a 20.73 per cent decline in premiums to Rs 4,606.8 crore. The NBP count of HDFC Life Insurance inched up 3.26 per cent to Rs 2,842.9 crore.
Of the remaining listed players, NBP tally of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance rose 2.89 per cent Y-o-Y to Rs 1,497.3 crore, while Max Life Insurance recorded 17.6 per cent growth to see its NBP grow to Rs 1,213.9 crore.
FY24 performance so far
Despite its strong December performance, LIC posted a 16.2 per cent Y-o-Y decline in premium for April-December 2023, which stood at Rs 1.47 trillion down from Rs 1.76 trillion in the same period last year. From April-November 2023, LIC's new premiums had fallen 24.2 per cent Y-o-Y to Rs 1.24 trillion from Rs 1.64 trillion in the last year's corresponding period.
On the other hand, the private sector reported a 10.4 per cent rise in NBP in April-December to Rs 1.02 trillion.
SBI Life Insurance saw 20.9 per cent Y-o-Y growth in premiums to Rs 26,000 crore, whereas HDFC Life Insurance witnessed 10.3 per cent growth in premium to Rs 20,344.3 crore.
