Life insurers' new business premium rose 4.2% in Q1 FY26, shows data

The New Business Premium (NBP) of life insurance companies posted 4.25 per cent growth in April-June period of the current financial year (Q1FY26) from the year ago period tracking muted growth among the insurers owing to base effect.

According to the data released by the Life Insurance Council, the NBP of the life insurers increased by 4.25 per cent year-on-year (Y-oY) to ₹93,544.54 crore in Q1FY26 from ₹89,726.7 crore in Q1FY25. 

In April-June period of FY25, the life insurance companies posted nearly 23 per cent growth after the changes in surrender value norms effective from October 1, 2024. 

Whereas, the industry has now adjusted to the new norms. 

 

In Q1FY26, state-owned giant, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) clocked 3.43 per cent growth to ₹59,410.68 crore. LIC, market leader in the group insurance segment, recorded a 2.3 per cent rise in its Group Single premium to ₹45,689.08 crore in April-June quarter of FY26 from the same period last year. The overall group insurance segment posted 2.93 per cent growth to ₹46,907.01 crore. 

On the other hand, private life insurers saw 5.7 per cent Y-o-Y improvement in their premium to ₹34,133.86 crore from ₹32,285.8 crore supported by healthy growth in the individual segment to ₹ 19,752.66 crore. 

SBI Life Insurance, the largest private sector life insurer, posted 3.3 per cent growth in premium to ₹ 7264.8 crore over last year. Similarly, HDFC Life Insurance recorded 14.51 per cent Y-o-Y growth to ₹7489.3 crore and ICICI Prudential Life Insurance clocked 6.47 per cent growth to ₹4012.24 crore. 

Other major players including Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance posted an 8.8 per cent drop and Axis Max Life Insurance saw 21.7 per cent growth in premiums. 

The life insurance companies posted nearly 10.11 per cent drop in sale of policies to 4.8 million with 14.80 per cent drop for LIC and 0.80 per cent slippage for private life insurers. 

While, in June 2024, premium of the insurers slipped by 3.10 per cent Y-o-Y to ₹41,117.14 crore. LIC posted 3.43 per cent Y-o-Y slipped to ₹28,366.9 crore whereas private insurers clocked 2.45 per cent Y-o-Y drop in premium to ₹13,722.14 crore. 

“The drop in premium during the month can be attributed to multiple factors including a drop in credit life insurance policies, and also slowness in group single premium plans. Additionally, base effects are also affecting the growth,” said Saurabh Bhalerao, Associate Director, CareEdge Ratings. 

In the quarter ended in June 30, 2024, market share of LIC stood at 63.5 per cent as compared to 64 per cent in corresponding period last year. The share of private insurance companies accounted for 36.5 per cent of the NBP as compared to 35.9 per cent last year.