Japan's Life Insurance Sector Growth Analysis: April 2025 - January 2026

Japan's life insurance sector exhibited consistent growth in new business value from April 2025 to January 2026, based on data from 41 firms. The total value of new individual insurance policies reached $290.4 billion (JPY46.1 trillion), marking a 5.9% increase year-over-year. Conversely, new individual annuity sales slightly declined by 1.0%, totaling $47.3 billion (JPY7.5 trillion). Notably, group insurance activities surged by 13.4% to $34.0 billion (JPY5.4 trillion), while the group annuity segment remained largely unchanged.

In January 2026, new individual insurance business rose by 8.8% from the previous year, reaching $22.7 billion (JPY3.6 trillion). Individual annuities experienced a modest increase of 2.6%, amounting to $3.8 billion (JPY596 billion). Group insurance significantly climbed by 53.8% to $2.8 billion (JPY450 billion).

Existing policies showed stability, with individual insurance in force slightly declining by 0.6% to $4.9 trillion (JPY778.1 trillion). However, in-force individual annuities grew by 2.8% to $676.6 billion (JPY107.4 trillion), and group insurance increased by 1.2% to $2.7 trillion (JPY426.2 trillion). Despite a minor 0.5% decrease in group annuities to $223.7 billion (JPY35.5 trillion), total premium income grew by 4.5% to $199.7 billion (JPY31.7 trillion).

The industry saw a reduction in claims paid, down 4.7% to $44.7 billion (JPY7.1 trillion), with annuity payments stable at $24.6 billion (JPY3.9 trillion). Overall total assets experienced a slight increase of 0.6% to $2.5 trillion (JPY404.5 trillion). In net insurance terms, individual insurance decreased by $5.4 billion (JPY862 billion), while individual annuities recorded a positive gain of $20.2 billion (JPY3.2 trillion). The group insurance segment also posted strong figures at $32.8 billion (JPY5.2 trillion).