Insurance industry earnings expand 45% in January-March

MANILA, Philippines —  The insurance industry saw its net income soar to more than P14 billion in the first quarter amid a significant increase in the life segment, raising the sector’s   contribution to the overall economy to 1.78 percent, according to the Insurance Commission (IC).

Data from the IC showed that net income of the sector jumped by 45 percent to P14.29 billion from January to March compared to last year’s P9.86 billion.

As such, insurance density or the average spending of an individual on insurance grew by 11 percent to P965.56 in the first quarter from P872.56 a year ago.

In turn, the share of the sector to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) also improved to 1.78 percent in the first quarter from last year’s 1.75 percent

Broken down, the life insurance segment registered an almost 50 percent increase in net income to P9.65 billion from P6.5 billion in 2023.

This was driven by the 12 percent increase to P87.66 billion in premium collection as both variable unit life (VUL) insurance policies and traditional life insurance posted growth.

Premiums paid under VUL policies amounted to P55.06 billion, while premiums paid under traditional life insurance reached P32.6 billion.

Similarly, investments improved by 10 percent to P1.8 trillion, while assets went up by nine percent to P1.86 trillion.

The life segment managed to grow during the quarter even with a 20-percent hike in benefit payments to P31.21 billion.

On the other hand, the non-life insurance segment’s net income slipped by four percent to P2.52 billion in the first three months from P2.63 billion a year ago following the slight decline in total premiums earned at P15.78 billion.

Nonetheless, investments for the non-life segment grew  by 18 percent to P178.46 billion.

Assets, however, went down by two percent to P363.89 billion, mainly placed on debt securities in both government and private sector, time deposits, investment property, mutual funds and real estate investment trusts, among others.

Further, the IC reported that mutual benefit associations (MBAs) increased their premiums by three percent to P3.88 billion while expenses dropped by 28 percent to P1.81 billion.

Overall, the segment saw its net surplus more than double to P2.12 billion.

Combined, total assets of the three segments improved  by seven percent to P2.38 trillion in the first quarter while total benefits paid rose by 12 percent to P39.25 billion.

The first quarter insurance data came from submissions of 129 out of the 132 licensed insurers and MBAs.