Micro insurance premium in life segment crosses Rs 10,000 crore in India

New Delhi: The micro-insurance premiums in the life insurance sector in the country has surpassed Rs 10,000 crore for the first time in FY24, according to industry data.

Micro insurance helps people in the low-income group via offering affordable products.

According to data by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), the new business premium (NBP) in life insurance’s micro-insurance segment reached Rs 10,860.39 crore in FY24, up 23.5 per cent from Rs 8,792.8 crore in FY23.

While individual NBP declined 23.78 per cent to Rs 152.57 crore, the group NBP went up 24.61 per cent to Rs 10,707.82 crore.

According to the IRDAI data, the number of micro-insurance agents stood at 102,000 in FY24. Nearly 19,166 of them belong to public-sector life insurers and the rest to private ones.

Among the micro-insurance agents, non-government organisations (NGOs) constitute 4.49 per cent, self-help groups 0.25 per cent, microfinance institutions 0.24 per cent, business correspondents 0.12 per cent, and others 94.90 per cent, the data showed.

Meanwhile, more than 21 crore people have benefited under the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) scheme that provides life insurance coverage.

The PMJJBY, launched in May 2015, is a term life insurance plan. Under this scheme, in case of death due to any reason, the family of the insured gets Rs 2 lakh.

The scheme saw a cumulative enrolment of 21.67 crore till October 20. On the other hand, the cumulative number of claims stood at 860,575, worth Rs 17,211.50.

According to reports, India’s insurance sector clocked a robust 11 per cent compound annual growth rate to cross the $130 billion mark during FY2020-23, surpassing Asian peers China and Thailand, which grew at less than 5 per cent.

The McKinsey report said that while the country’s life insurance industry grew to $107 billion as of 2023, the general insurance industry touched $35.2 billion.

A growing middle class, greater awareness, rising healthcare costs, and supportive regulations have combined to offer high growth for India’s insurance industry over the last few years, the report added.

—IANS