Insurance sector posts higher premiums

THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY recorded higher premiums as of June, pushing up the country’s insurance penetration rate.

Total premiums paid for life and nonlife insurance products grew by 12.98% to P242.842 billion at end-June from P214.941 billion in the same period last year, the Insurance Commission (IC) said in a statement on Monday.

As a result, insurance penetration, or the ratio of insurance premiums to the gross domestic product, rose to 1.79% from 1.71% a year prior.

Insurance density, or the average spending of each individual on insurance, also increased by 12.07% to P2,137.32.

“This considerable increase was driven by a rise in total premiums that exceeded the population growth rate of 0.87%. The growth suggests a higher level of adoption and use of insurance services within the population as of the quarter,” the IC said.

Broken down, life insurers registered a 12.01% increase in premiums collected to P195.05 billion in the first semester from P174.14 billion a year prior.

Of this total, variable life premiums climbed by 15.47% to P130.7 billion, while traditional life premiums went up by 5.59% to P64.35 billion, the data showed.

Meanwhile, nonlife insurance companies’ net premiums written jumped by 20.48% year on year to P39.63 billion as of end-June from P32.89 billion.

For their part, mutual benefit associations’ total contributions went up by 3.09% to P8.16 billion from P7.91 billion.

The insurance industry’s combined net income increased by 3.62% to P28.78 billion in the first half, the IC added.

Benefits paid out by the sector also went up by 1.18% to P77.57 billion.

The industry’s total assets rose by 7.56% year on year to P2.54 trillion as of end-June. Invested assets stood at P2.26 trillion, up by 10.7% from the year-ago level.

Insurance companies’ combined net worth also grew by 8.7% to P493.76 billion from P454.24 billion.

Total paid-up capital and guaranty fund went up by 7.95% to P84.98 billion.

Meanwhile, the industry’s total liabilities grew by 7.29% to P2.05 trillion as of end-June from P1.91 trillion a year prior. — Aaron Michael C. Sy