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Life insurers’ first-year premium growth accelerated in August, with LIC driving much of the increase as private insurers also posted double-digit growth.
By Megha Rani September 7, 2026, 6:32:07 PM IST (Published)
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Life insurance companies reported strong growth in new business in August, with industry-wide first-year premium rising 33.1% year-on-year to ₹41,198 crore, according to industry data.
Life Insurance Corporation of India led the growth among major insurers, with its first-year premium rising 45.3% from a year earlier to ₹23,275 crore.
Private life insurers collectively reported first-year premium of ₹17,922 crore, up 20% year-on-year.
Among major private insurers, HDFC Life’s first-year premium rose 17.8% to ₹3,609 crore, while SBI Life reported a 2.8% increase to ₹3,415 crore. ICICI Prudential Life’s first-year premium rose 9.9% to ₹1,953 crore, while Canara HSBC Life posted a 5.2% increase to ₹278 crore.
The August growth follows a 20.7% increase in industry-wide new business premium in July to ₹47,005 crore. LIC’s premium rose nearly 24% in July, while private insurers grew 16.3%.
Premium growth remains strong so far this fiscal
For the April-August period, life insurers’ total first-year premium stood at ₹1.97 lakh crore, up 20.4% from the year-ago period.
ICICI Prudential Life also reported a 10% increase in new business premium in August, while its retail annualised premium equivalent, or APE, rose 23.4% year-on-year.
APE is a measure insurers use to track the annualised value of premiums from new policies, giving a better sense of the underlying pace of new business than a simple premium collection figure.
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