How did Singapore's life insurance sector perform year-to-date?

Business premiums for life insurance recorded $4.76b, whilst integrated shield plans accounted $496.5m.

Singapore's life insurance industry increased by 10.4% year-on-year to $3.66b (S$4.76b) in terms of weighted new business premiums, for the nine months (YTD Q3 2025) to September, the Life Insurance Association Singapore (LIA Singapore) said.

Premiums for individual health insurance for YTD Q3 2025 amounted to S$553.7m, an increase of 45.3% compared to the same period last year, amidst rising healthcare costs.

“The life insurance industry will continue to develop innovative products to better meet the community’s protection, savings and investment needs,” said Wong Sze Keed, president of LIA Singapore.

“At the same time, recent research suggests that healthcare costs are expected to rise further in 2026, with Asia Pacific projected to post the highest medical inflation worldwide at 14%,” she added.

From Q32024 to Q32025, meanwhile, group life and health policies grew 15% to record a total of S$2.83b.

Group accident and health policies accounted for 74.5% of total in-force premiums, whilst group life policies took the remaining 25.5%, the LIA said.

Growth in in-force premiums shows Singapore companies’ commitment to staff protection, the LIA added.

Meanwhile, 71% of Singapore residents are protected by integrated shield plans (IPs) that provide coverage on top of MediShield Life.

IPs and IP rider premiums accounted for 89.7% (S$496.5m) and the remaining 10.3% (S$57.2m) comprised other medical plans and riders in YTD Q3 2025, the association said.

As for demand for annual premium policies, uptake increased by 19.9% in YTD Q3 2025 compared to Q32024, amounting to S$3.57b in total weighted annual premiums.

Inversely, uptake of single-premium policies decreased 10.8% in weighted premiums over the same period last year, totalling S$1.19b in Q3.

Independent and insurer-backed financial advisers offered protection services, with S$50.8b sum assured in the first nine months of 2025, or 44.3% of the total amount of sum assured for Q3 2025, the LIA said.

The industry recorded a total of S$114.6b in total sum assured during Q3, expanding 3.6% over the same period last year.