Indian life insurers' first-year premiums rebound after four months

Private insurance companies led the increase.

After four straight months of YoY drops, India’s life insurance sector has finally recovered in July, posting 6.9% growth in first-year premiums to $3.07b (INR 22,986.1 crore), according to a CARE Ratings report.

Private insurance companies drove the increase, in addition to July as the last month for investing in insurance policies and claiming deduction under two sections of the Income Tax Act.

The sector is still hounded by declines in first-year premiums as businesses have been severely hit by the pandemic, reporting a 12% YTD decrease in July FY 2021 to $9.7b (INR 72,351.5 crore) from $10.9b (INR 82,146.5 crore) in July FY 2020.

Overall sum assured also dropped 9.2% in July FY 2021 from a year earlier.

The first-year premium growth for life insurance companies (LICs) was 51.9% YTD July FY20, compared to a drop of 14% in YTD July FY21. LICs also maintained its lion’s share in first-year premiums at 71.5% versus 28.5% from private firms.

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