Life Insurance companies collected 43.76% higher new business premium (NBP) in December 2023 year-on-year (Y-o-Y) due to strong performance by Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC).
The NBP of LIC almost doubled, which has been looking to arrest a fall in its market share. This was also the first month in which LIC's NBP grew in the current financial year.
The life insurance industry earned premiums worth Rs 38,581 crore in December, up 43.75% from Rs 26,838.3 crore in the year-ago period, according to data released by Life Insurance Council.
Public sector life insurer LIC’s premiums soared 93.8% to Rs 22,981.3 crore from Rs 11,858.5 crore on the back of multifold growth in group single premium business. The group single premium business of LIC rose by 195% to Rs 17,602 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.
Meanwhile, private life insurers’ premiums grew 4.14% Y-o-Y to Rs 15,600 crore from Rs 14,979.8 crore in the year-ago period. Among private insurance companies, SBI Life Insurance, the largest private insurer, reported a 20.73% growth in premiums to Rs 4,606.8 crore. The NBP of HDFC Life Insurance inched up 3.19% to Rs 2,840.9 crore. Of the remaining listed players, NBP tally of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance rose 2.89% Y-o-Y to Rs 1,497.3 crore, while Max Life Insurance recorded 17.6% growth to see its NBP grow to Rs 1,213.9 crore.
Despite its strong December performance, LIC posted a 16.2% 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% 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% rise in NBP in April-December to Rs 1.02 trillion. SBI Life Insurance saw 20.9% Y-o-Y growth in premiums to Rs 26,000 crore, whereas HDFC Life Insurance witnessed 10.3% growth in premium to Rs 20,344.3 crore.
NBP refers to premium acquired from new policies for a particular period and is a key indicator of insurance sector growth.
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