The Life Insurance Association of Singapore (LIA Singapore) has reported new business premiums were S$1.05bn (£630m, $780m, €720m) for the period January 2023 to March 2023 (Q1 2023).
This was a 13.6% fall compared to Q1 2022.
Single-premium products recorded a 46% quarter-on-quarter decrease in weighted premiums amounting to S$355.7m in total for Q1 2023.
LIA Singapore said: “This is against the backdrop of the nation’s muted economic growth in the first quarter of the year with concerns that a potential technical recession may further impact Singapore in 2023. The fall in demand for single-premium products may also be attributed to a volatile macroeconomic environment and rising interest rates in an increasingly competitive marketplace.”
Increase in uptake of annual premium policies
Bucking the trend, however, is the increased take-up of annual premium products by 24.7% quarter-on-quarter, amounting to S$692m in total weighted premiums.
Tied representatives led the charge in getting $12.3bn sum assured in the first quarter of 2023, accounting for a notable 40.3% of the total amount of sum assured for the quarter.
Financial advice representatives secured $10.4bn in sum assured, accounting for 34.1% of the total amount sum assured in Q1 2023. The industry recorded $30.5bn in total sum assured during this period.
Dennis Tan, president of LIA Singapore, said: “Despite uncertainties in the macroeconomic environment, Singapore’s life insurance industry will remain focused on supporting Singapore’s community in addressing their protection and financial needs.
“On this end, the Life Insurance Association, Singapore, will be launching findings of our nationwide protection gap study, looking at the mortality and critical illness protection gaps that exist. We remain committed to driving efforts to get the community better protected.”
