Philippine life insurance premiums jumped 20.4% to $3.32b in 9M2018

Premiums from variable life insurance products hit $2.48b.

Total premiums in the Phiilippine life insurance industry rose 20.4% YoY to $3.32b (PHP174.15b) in the first nine months of 2018 from $2.75b (PHP144.63b) in the same period of 2017, according to data from the Insurance Commission as reported by the Philippine Star.

Broken down, the country’s life insurance sector collected $2.48b (PHP130.14b) in premiums from variable life insurance products and $840m (PHP44.02b) from traditional life insurance products.

In the non-life insurance sector, net premiums also climbed 7.34% YoY to $700m (PHP36.83b) from $650m (PHP34.31b) a year ago. Moreover, contributions and premiums collected by mutual benefit associations jumped 21.2% to $150m (PHP7.93b).

In total, the local insurance industry saw total premium income rise 18% YoY to $4.17b (PHP218.91b) as of end-September 2018 from $3.53b ($185.51b) in the same period in 2017. The commission also noted that insurance density increased to $39 (PHP2,053) per capita as of end-September from $334 (PHP1,768) per capita a year ago, whilst insurance penetration climbed by 0.12 ppt to 1.76%.