Life Insurance Premiums Up 2% in March Amid Declining Policy Numbers

The life insurance sector recorded a 2% increase in premium collections year-over-year, climbing to Rs 61,439 crore in March from Rs 60,213 crore the previous year. Despite this growth, the total number of policies and schemes declined by nearly 19%, totaling approximately 4.39 million.
Major insurers presented mixed results: Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) saw a 2% premium increase to Rs 36,907 crore. HDFC Life experienced a 5% rise in premiums, reaching Rs 4,875 crore, while ICICI Prudential Life Insurance reported an 18% increase to Rs 3,809 crore, driven by varying performance across product segments. SBI Life Insurance, conversely, recorded an 11% decline in total premiums to Rs 3,871 crore.

Industry performance splits show that companies like ICICI Prudential Life and Aditya Birla Sun Life outperformed the average market growth. Conversely, SBI Life, Kotak Mahindra Life, and Bajaj Allianz underperformed, showing premium declines. HDFC Life, LIC, and Axis Max Life Insurance posted moderate growth aligned with overall industry trends, indicating sectoral variance in premium growth and policy count contraction.