IRDAI says 32% of policies, first-year premium from women

Almost a third of the 2.82 crore life insurance policies sold during 2017-18 in the country has been bought by women.

Apart from purchasing 90 lakh policies, women contributed ₹29,801 crore by way of first-year premium (FYP). The total FYP collected during the year was ₹92,135 crore.

Both, in terms of the number of policies or the FYP, their contribution was 32%, according to insurance regulator IRDAI.

Of the 90 lakh policies bought by women, almost one-third came from three States — Maharashtra (12%); West Bengal (10.3%); and UP (9.4%). Out of ₹29,801 crore FYP contributed by women, a little over one-third came from three States — Maharashtra (18.1%); West Bengal (10%) and Tamil Nadu (7.8%). Women comprise roughly 48% of the population. Their contribution to the economic activity of the country is significant and increasing every year, said a study on the share of women in life insurance business forming part of IRDAI 2017-18 annual report.

The study, for which only individual new business data — number of (life) policies and first-year premium for 2017-18 — was considered, found in 19 States/Union territories, the share in number of policies bought by women to the total policies sold was higher than the all-India average of 32%.

Top five States

The top five States/UTs with highest share in number of policies bought by women were Lakshadweep (55%); Puducherry (43%); Kerala (43%); Mizoram (41%); and Sikkim (40%). The States with the least share in the number of polices bought by women are — Jammu & Kashmir (24%); Haryana (27%); Gujarat (27%); Uttar Pradesh (28%); and Jharkhand (28%).

Men bought 1.91 crore policies and paid ₹62,334 crore premium during the year. In other words, two in three life insurance policies sold were to men.

At all-India level, 210 persons purchased a life insurance policy, during the year, for every 10,000 population. A further analysis showed that 277 men for every 10,000 male population purchased the policies, while the number for women was 139 for every 10000-female population. The three states/UTs with the highest number of policies sold per 10,000 women are Chandigarh, Goa and Delhi (NCR).

The study was limited to 2017-18 and did not offer comparable numbers to assess which way the number of women opting for life insurance was moving. A mail, seeking numbers of the past few years, to the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), did not elicit a response.