Private life insurers take industry APE up 17% in July
life insurance industry in India registered growth in July, with the total annualised premium equivalent (APE) increasing by 16.9% year-on-year.
This growth was primarily driven by the private sector, which saw an impressive 18% rise in APE. Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), the country's largest insurer, recorded a more moderate increase of around 13.5%.
APE is the sum of annualised first-year premium on regular premium policies and 10% of single premium policies written in a fiscal year.
In terms of total premiums collected in July, the industry saw a 14% YoY increase. LIC's growth in July was moderate in terms of APE, but the total premium collections grew 20% YoY in July. The industry collected a total premium of ₹31,822 crore in July and ₹1.21 lakh crore in April-July period growing 20.5% on a YoY basis.
Among the major life insurance companies, SBI Life Insurance reported a 9.3% growth in APE, largely due to strong sales of regular insurance policies. However, despite the increase in new policy sales, SBI Life's total premium collection fell by 26% in July. This decline in total premiums is partly due to a high base.
On the other hand, Max Life Insurance performed well, with a 38% jump in APE and a 27% rise in total premiums.
ICICI Prudential Life Insurance reported a relatively subdued performance, with APE growing by just 3.6% and total premiums increasing by 7.3%.
HDFC Life Insurance stood out with a 49.5% growth in APE and a 33.7% increase in total premiums. However, this growth came on the
