The life insurance sector in Singapore has reported a 61 percent rise in weighted new business premiums, reaching SG$2.68 billion during the first half of2021, when compared to the same period in 2020, according to the Life Insurance Association, Singapore (LIA).
This represents that the market is bouncing back from the adverse effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. As face-to-face meetings were banned due to the nature of the pandemic, many sales channels incurred heavy losses, especially agents.
Khor Hock Seng, LIA president told the media, “The strong showing of business results seen in the life insurance industry in the first half of this year reflects a level of stabilisation of Singapore’s economy from the immediate impact of Covid-19 in the first half of 2020. The growth in uptake of life insurance also seems to show that more people are placing greater importance on providing for their long-term financial and healthcare needs in the midst of an evolving pandemic environment.”
The main growth driver was single product premium which recorded a 106 percent year-on-year increase in weighted premiums, amounting to SG$1.28 billion. Additionally, single premium par and non-par products accounted for 84 percent of all single premium purchases and single premium-linked products made up for the remaining 16 percent.
Annual premium products also increased by 35 percent and added another SG$1.4 billion in weighted annual premiums. The insurance company also noted that the number of policies purchased online also increased as the business started working remotely due to the pandemic. During the first six months of 2021, 203,351 policies were bought online, compared to 2,952 policies from the first half of 2020.
The total new business premiums for individual health insurance amounted to SG$176.8 million and the uptake of retirement products also saw an increase of 34 percent with 22,137 policies bought in the first half.