Profile of Indian Life Insurance Sector
• The life insurance industry in India has undergone significant changes over the past decade. From the steady number of companies to the massive rise in insurance agents and the unprecedented spike in claims during the COVID-19 pandemic, the sector reflects both resilience and challenges.
• Between 2015 and 2021, the number of life insurance companies in India remained steady at 24. In 2023, the count increased to 25, and by 2024 it reached 26. This expansion highlights growing interest from new players, signaling opportunities in the Indian insurance market.
• The number of life insurance offices stayed around 11,000 branches across the decade. After peaking at 11,310 in 2020, the count dipped to 11,060 in 2021–22 but recovered to 11,517 in 2024. The limited expansion suggests that insurers are focusing more on digital distribution rather than adding physical branches.
| Particulars | 31-03-2015 | 31-03-2016 | 31-03-2017 | 31-03-2018 | 31-03-2019 | 31-03-2020 | 31-03-2021 | 31-03-2022 | 31-03-2023 | 31-03-2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of Life Insurance Companies | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 25 | 26 |
| Number of Life Insurance Offices | 11033 | 11071 | 10954 | 11112 | 11279 | 11310 | 11060 | 11060 | 11256 | 11,517 |
| Number of Life Insurance Agents | 20,67,907 | 20,16,565 | 20,88,522 | 20,82,667 | 21,94,747 | 22,78,465 | 24,55,077 | 24,42,609 | 26,28,208 | 28,95,438 |
| No. of Life Insurance claims submitted/intimated (Individual-death) | 8,69,332 | 8,69,619 | 8,73,462 | 8,43,841 | 8,61,987 | 8,73,832 | 10,95,113 | 16,05,869 | 10,74,546 | 9,99,262 |
| No of Life Insurance claims submitted/intimated (Group-death) | 4,52,625 | 5,30,949 | 7,06,431 | 7,63,913 | 8,68,620 | 10,22,814 | 10,81,527 | 14,24,849 | 12,42,023 | 14,82,767 |
| Number of New Life Insurance Policies Issued | 2,59,08,000 | 2,67,38,000 | 2,64,56,000 | 2,81,97,000 | 2,86,48,000 | 2,88,47,000 | 2,81,27,000 | 2,91,13,000 | 2,84,70,000 | 2,91,76,877 |
Units: In Numbers
• One of the most striking trends is the rise in life insurance agents in India. From 20.6 lakh in 2015, the number grew to nearly 29 lakh in 2024. This growth underlines the continuing importance of human advisors in driving policy sales, even in the era of online insurance platforms.
• Claims data provides a clear reflection of the pandemic’s impact on the insurance sector. Individual death claims averaged around 8.5 lakh annually until 2020 but spiked to over 10.9 lakh in 2021 and peaked at 16 lakh in 2022 before stabilizing near 10 lakh in 2024. Group death claims also rose sharply, reaching 14.8 lakh in 2024 compared to 4.5 lakh in 2015. These numbers reveal how the industry faced unprecedented challenges during the health crisis.
• Despite the rising number of agents, the issuance of new life insurance policies has remained relatively flat. Around 2.6 to 2.9 crore new policies were issued each year, with 2024 recording 2.91 crore. This shows that while distribution expanded, penetration and customer acquisition did not grow proportionally.
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