Despite life insurers’ premium growth of 6% in August, policy sales drop 9%

Private sector insurers continued to outpace the state-run Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) in terms of growth.

The life insurance industry in India registered a 6.01 percent growth in new business premium for the period ending August 2025, with collections touching Rs 1.63 lakh crore compared to Rs 1.54 lakh crore a year ago, according to provisional data released by the Life Insurance Council.

Despite the rise in premium income, the number of policies sold fell by 8.87 percent to 9.25 crore from 10.15 crore in the previous year, signalling a possible shift in preference toward high-value policies or group insurance covers.

Private sector insurers continued to outpace the state-run Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) in terms of growth.

Premium income for private insurers climbed 10.84 percent to Rs 65,410.42 crore during the period under review, up from Rs 59,013.14 crore last year. LIC, on the other hand, posted a modest 3.02 percent growth, collecting Rs 98,051.09 crore compared to Rs 95,180.63 crore a year ago.

In terms of policy count, private players managed a marginal increase of 0.77 percent with 3.34 crore policies sold, while LIC witnessed a sharp decline of 13.55 percent, issuing 5.91 crore policies compared to 6.83 crore in the same period last year.

Segment-wise data shows mixed trends.

Individual single-premium policies grew by 9.72 percent to Rs 20,476.24 crore from Rs 18,662.95 crore last year, with LIC dominating the category with Rs 11,942.65 crore, up 13.19 percent, while private insurers contributed Rs 8,533.58 crore, marking a 5.19 percent rise. The individual non-single premium segment registered a growth of 4.51 percent to Rs 40,556.98 crore.

Private players were the key growth drivers here, collecting Rs 29,156.02 crore, an increase of 8.15 percent, while LIC’s income fell by 3.75 percent to Rs 11,400.95 crore.

Group single premium business posted a muted growth of 3.34 percent, reaching Rs 93,827.40 crore. Within this segment, private insurers grew 8.71 percent, while LIC reported a modest 1.78 percent increase. The group yearly renewable premium category saw the steepest growth at 67.89 percent, touching Rs 7,427.82 crore compared to Rs 4,424.24 crore last year, indicating a surge in demand for group protection plans.

Among individual insurers, HDFC Life maintained its strong growth trajectory with a 13.05 percent rise in new business premium at Rs 13,607.28 crore, while SBI Life reported a similar growth rate of 13.01 percent, collecting Rs 14,388.57 crore. ICICI Prudential Life grew by 9.34 percent to Rs 7,694.76 crore.

Tata AIA Life Insurance recorded robust growth of 18.48 percent, taking its premium to Rs 3,841.65 crore, backed by a sharp 50.84 percent increase in the number of policies sold.

Smaller insurers such as Bandhan Life, formerly Aegon Life, and Bharti AXA Life posted significant gains in select segments. Bandhan Life’s overall premium rose by 150.09 percent, while Bharti AXA Life reported a 23.22 percent increase despite a decline in policy count for many other players.