Life Insurers Clock Record New Business in September; Premiums Up 7.6% YTD

The life insurance sector in India has seen a notable increase in business momentum last month (September 2025). According to the latest data released by the Life Insurance Council, new business premiums (NBP) rose 14.81 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) to Rs 40,206.67 crore, up from Rs 35,020.28 crore a year earlier.

The data further shows that the industry’s premium collections for the April–September 2025 period (H1 FY26) also recorded a healthy 7.64 per cent increase to Rs 2,03,668 crore, reflecting both rising demand for protection and continued expansion by private insurers.

How Did Life Insurers Perform?

The growth story of life insurers has been broad-based, but largely powered by private players, whose cumulative new business premiums rose 17.8 per cent y-o-y to Rs 17,249.58 crore in September.

Collections in H1 FY26 reached Rs 82,660 crore, marking a 12.2 per cent rise compared to the corresponding period last year. The gains came from steady inflows across both the individual non-single and group single premium categories, with the former growing 8 per cent and the latter up 13.8 per cent.

Meanwhile, the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India posted a more moderate 12.70 per cent rise in new business premiums, collecting Rs 22,957.09 crore in September 2025, compared with Rs 20,369.26 crore last year.

On a year-to-date (YTD) basis, LIC’s collections edged up 4.70 per cent to Rs 1,21,008 crore. The state-run insurer saw improvements in group and yearly renewable segments, but individual non-single premiums slipped 10.80 per cent, and the number of individual policies sold dropped more than 20 per cent YTD, signalling ongoing challenges in retail sales.

Across the industry, the total number of policies sold in the April-September period fell 14.30 per cent to 11.50 million crore, down from 13.40 million last year.

The decline was sharpest in the individual non-single category, which saw policy counts fall even as premium values rose, a sign that insurers are increasingly focusing on higher-value contracts.

In terms of segment performance, individual single premiums rose 5 per cent YTD to Rs 24,992 crore, while group single premiums were up 8 per cent to Rs 1,16,402 crore.

The group yearly renewable premium segment posted the strongest growth, jumping 61 per cent to Rs 9,083 crore, although the number of such policies fell sharply, reflecting consolidation in larger institutional deals.

Among private insurers, SBI Life continued to lead with Rs 3,953.22 crore in new business premiums in September, up 16.60 per cent from a year earlier. HDFC Life followed with Rs 2,942.30 crore (up 12.50 per cent), while ICICI Prudential Life posted Rs 1,761.28 crore (up 8.70 per cent).

Smaller and mid-sized insurers also turned in strong performances. For instance, PNB MetLife rose 23.10 per cent, Bandhan Life (formerly Aegon Life) surged 178 per cent, and Generali Central Life more than doubled its business, rising 114.60 per cent.

The data shows a decline in the policy count. However, the overall industry trend points to a growing appetite for life insurance, particularly in higher value categories.

In parallel, life insurers have been expanding their distribution base, adding more than 539,000 new agents during the year, marking a 3.70 per cent increase in total agent count. The combination of expanding agent networks and rapid digital adoption is expected to keep the momentum going through financial year FY26, helping the industry deepen penetration across urban and semi-urban markets.