U.S. Life Insurance Application Activity Returns to Growth in January 2023
Growth across all age bands and product types
February 6, 2023
U.S. life insurance application activity saw growth in January 2023 compared to January 2022, with Year-over-Year (YOY) activity up +8.6%, representing the first month of YOY growth since November 2021. January 2023 also saw the highest overall activity for any January on record. When comparing January 2023 to the same month in prior years, activity was up +3.4% compared to 2021, up +7.5% compared to 2020 and up +8.7% compared to 2019. On a Month-over-Month (MOM) basis, January 2023 was up +16.7% compared to December 2022.
All age groups saw YOY growth in January 2023, with ages 0-30 seeing double-digit growth. January YOY activity for ages 0-30 was up +14.1%, ages 31-50 up +8.6%, ages 51-60 up +4.0%, ages 61-70 up +6.1%, and ages 71+ up +8.8%.
When examining YOY activity by face amounts, all face amounts saw growth, in the double digits for amounts over $1M up to and including $5M. When including age bands, ages 0-30 saw double-digit YOY growth for amounts up to and including $5M and declining activity for amounts over $5M. Ages 31-50 saw growth across all age bands, in the double digits for amounts over $1M. Ages 51-60 saw growth for amounts up to and including $5M, in the double digits for amounts over $1M up to and including $2.5M, and double-digit declining activity for amounts over $5M. Ages 61-70 saw growth for amounts up to and including $250K, double-digit growth for amounts over $250K up to and including $500K, and amounts over $1M up to and including $2.5M, declining activity for amounts over $5M, and flat activity for all other face amounts. Ages 71+ saw YOY growth for face amounts up to and including $500K and amounts over $5M, in the double digits for amounts up to and including $250K, and declines across all other age bands, in the double digits for amounts over $500K up to and including $1M.
January 2023 saw YOY growth in all three product types, with double-digit growth for Universal Life. Term Life was up +8.6%, Universal Life was up +20.8%, and Whole Life was up +7.7%. Term Life saw growth for ages 0-60, in the double digits for ages 0-30, and declining activity for ages 61+. Universal Life saw double-digit growth across all age bands. Whole Life saw growth for ages 0-50 and ages 61+, in the double digits for ages 0-50, and declining activity for ages 51-60.
