The country’s life insurance sector experienced a slight contraction in its total premium income during the first quarter of 2023, the Insurance Commission (IC) reported Friday.
In a statement, the IC said that the total premium income decreased by 0.47 percent to P78.24 billion in the first three months of 2023 from the P78.61 billion recorded in the same period last year.
IC said that the decline was primarily attributed to a significant drop of 32.77 percent in the collection of single premiums for variable life insurance products, amounting to P8.31 billion.
Variable life insurance products accounted for 65.89 percent of the industry’s total premium income, encompassing first-year premiums, renewal premiums, and single premiums.
However, there was a 12.76 percent contraction in total premiums collected for these products year-on-year.
On the other hand, traditional life insurance products, which made up the remaining 34.11 percent of the sector, experienced significant growth.
Total premium collections for traditional life insurance products increased by 36.74 percent year-on-year.
According to the IC, this growth was primarily driven by a staggering 951.52 percent increase in single premium collections for traditional life insurance products.
Additionally, the industry’s new business annual premium equivalent, which is calculated by combining the value of first-year premiums from newly sold products in a given year and ten percent of single premiums written, witnessed an 18.16 percent growth in the first quarter of 2023.
