Life insurers’ new business premiums dips 11.6% in February as LIC sees sharp decline

New business premiums for the month February

India's life insurance sector saw a decline in new business premiums for February 2025, with total collections dropping to Rs 29,985.58 crore, compared to Rs 33,913.18 crore in February 2024, marking an 11.6 per cent contraction.

The Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) reported a sharp decline in premium collections for the month, with total premiums falling from Rs 19,896.01 crore in February 2024 to Rs 15,513.95 crore in February 2025, a drop of 22 percent.

The number of policies issued by LIC also saw a significant decrease, from 17.18 lakh to 12.04 lakh, reflecting a tightening market for the country’s largest life insurer.

LIC’s individual single premiums remained strong at Rs 2,606.84 crore, growing 18.88 percent year-on-year, but its individual non-single premium segment fell to Rs 2,231.03 crore, a decline of 20.5 percent compared to February 2024.

Private sector insurers, on the other hand, fared relatively better but also experienced an overall decline.

The total new business premium from private life insurers stood at Rs 14,471.62 crore in February 2025, down from Rs 14,017.17 crore in the same month last year.

Some private insurers reported strong individual premium growth, with HDFC Life collecting Rs 3,213.76 crore (up 13.97 percent) and ICICI Prudential Life posting Rs 1,857.05 crore (up 26.38 percent).

However, others, including SBI Life and Tata AIA Life, recorded mixed performance, with SBI Life registering a 6.38 percent decline in February premiums.

Breaking down the performance by segment, individual single premiums across the industry grew 8.3 percent to Rs 4,300.94 crore in February 2025.

However, individual non-single premiums fell 4.8 percent to Rs 8,933.99 crore.

Group single premiums, which account for a large share of total premium collections, declined 21.7 percent to Rs 15,130.54 crore.

Group non-single premiums saw an even steeper decline, dropping 55.1 percent to Rs 114.01 crore. Group yearly renewable premiums, however, showed resilience, growing 33.69 percent to Rs 1,506.10 crore.