Singapore life insurance industry sees 10.9% growth in Q1 2025 premiums

The growth was led by the double-digit increase in annual premium policies.

Singapore’s life insurance industry recorded $1.14b (S$1.48b) in weighted new business premiums for Q1 2025, marking a 10.9% increase year-on-year (YoY), according to data released by the Life Insurance Association, Singapore (LIA Singapore).

The growth was led by a 36.7% YoY increase in annual premium policies, which brought in $0.88b (S$1.14b) in weighted premiums.

In contrast, single premium policies declined 32.2% YoY to $0.26b (S$339.5m), though this represented a 5.2% increase compared to the previous quarter.

Investment-linked policies (ILPs) continued to drive momentum, with uptake rising 60.6% from $0.32b (S$414m) in Q1 2024 to $0.51b (S$665m) in Q1 2025. The sustained interest in ILPs and annual premium products indicates a shift in consumer preference towards policies that offer both protection and investment potential.

Group Life and Health in-force premiums grew 16% YoY to $2.06b (S$2.68b) as of Q1 2025. Of this, accident and health policies accounted for 73.8%, whilst life insurance made up the remaining 26.2%.

Distribution remained concentrated amongst financial adviser (FA) representatives and tied agents.

FA representatives secured $11.24b (S$14.6b) in sum assured for Q1 2025, representing 43.3% of the quarter’s total, whilst tied representatives accounted for $8.39b (S$10.9b), or 32.4%.

The industry recorded a total sum assured of $25.87b (S$33.6b) for the period, showing a slight decline compared to Q1 2024.

LIA Singapore President Wong Sze Keed acknowledged the industry’s performance amid economic uncertainties, noting the impact of Singapore’s downgraded GDP growth forecast of 0% to 2% for 2025.