Singapore’s life insurance premium down 17% in the first half of 2023

Single-premium policy’s performance dragged the overall sector’s result.

Singapore’s life insurance weighted new business premiums fell 16.7% year-on-year (YoY) to S$2.2b, according to the Life Insurance Association (LIA) of Singapore.

This was mainly dragged by the decrease in single-premium policies of 52% for weighted premiums. The policy accumulated S$691m for the semester.

This contraction was influenced by Singapore’s “uncertain economic growth in the first half of the year as economists further scale back on their growth forecast,” said LIA.

“Demand for single premium policies continue to see a decline amid a volatile macroeconomic environment and rising interest rates in an increasingly competitive marketplace,” LIA said in a statement.

On the other hand, annual premiums climbed 26.3% YoY to S$1.2m.

As of 30 June, around 72,000 Singaporeans and Permanent Residents have enrolled in new Integrated Shield Plans (IPs). 

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In total, 2.9 million lives, which is approximately 71% of Singapore residents, are covered by IPs in addition to MediShield Life.

The total new business premiums for individual health insurance in the first half of 2023 reached S$206m, marking a 32.1% increase compared to the same period last year. 

IPs and IP rider premiums constituted 83.9% (S$172.8m), while the remaining 16.1% (S$33.2m) comprised other medical plans and riders.

From 1 January to 30 June, the life insurance industry disbursed S$6.0b to policyholders and beneficiaries, showing a 1% rise from the same period in the previous year. 

Among this sum, S$5.16b  was attributed to maturing policies, while the remaining S$838.6m was allocated to death, critical illness, or disability claims for over 9,900 policies.