Premium growth in the life insurance sector in 2025 remained strong across most jurisdictions. In some jurisdictions, strong demand for investment- oriented products and favourable financial market conditions supported growth, while in others pension reforms and demographic trends played a more important role. Claims payments declined in real terms in half of reporting jurisdictions, often reflecting reduced surrender activity.
Global Insurance Market Trends 2026
Abstract
Life insurance markets recorded solid growth in 2025, with average nominal premium growth reaching 8.7% and real growth 4.0%, with positive real growth recorded in 41 of 52 jurisdictions (Figure 3.1).
In per cent
Note: For more details, please see the methodological notes in Annex B.
Source: OECD Global Insurance Statistics.
This level of growth was moderately less than the growth registered across jurisdictions in 2024, when average nominal growth stood at 11.9% and real growth at 7.8%. In some jurisdictions, growth in 2025 was linked to strong demand for investment-linked products as financial markets performed well. In addition, the transfer of the obligations of defined benefit schemes to life insurers, driven in part by pension reforms in some jurisdictions, continued to generate premium inflows. In some other markets, growth was partly driven by increases in occupational pension contributions as rising wages and employment levels expanded the contribution base.
The composition of life insurance business likely explains some of the differences in premium growth across jurisdictions. While growth in markets with large annuity and pension segments tends to be impacted by demographic and institutional trends, those with significant unit-linked business are often more responsive to equity market performance. Global equity markets delivered another year of strong gains in 2025 (FTSE Russell, 2026[11]), which supported the demand for investment-linked life insurance products in several jurisdictions. In Italy, for example, unit-linked premiums increased by 19%, contributing to a record level of life insurance premium income. Unit-linked products were also identified as the main driver of growth in life insurance premiums in Portugal.
In some markets, life insurance growth was driven less by financial market conditions and more by structural changes in retirement savings arrangements and demographic trends. In the Netherlands, for example, growth reflected the implementation of the Future Pensions Act (Wet toekomst pensioenen), which generated large transfers from pension funds to insurers through buy-out transactions, contributing approximately EUR 3.9 billion in premiums during 2025. The Dutch supervisory authority noted that without these transfers, the life market would have contracted. Pension-related flows also contributed to premium growth in Norway, where continued expansion in defined contribution pension schemes supported life insurance premium income.
In several other jurisdictions, demand for retirement income products, particularly annuities, contributed to life insurance growth. In the United States, annuity premiums reached USD 546 billion in 2025, a 4.2% increase, with indexed annuities recording growth of 23.4% (NAIC, 2025[7]). In Peru, retiree fixed period annuity premiums grew by 59.8% in 2025, reflecting growing demand for long-term savings alternatives among retirees with access to a lump-sum payment upon retirement. The share of the population aged 65 and over across OECD countries stood at approximately 18% in 2025 and is projected to reach 27% by 2050 (OECD, 2025[6]). As populations age and public pension systems face fiscal pressure, the role of private retirement income products, including life insurance annuities, is likely to grow (OECD, 2025[12]).
Life insurance claims grew only modestly in 2025. Across reporting jurisdictions, nominal life claims growth averaged 4.8% in 2025, down from 7.5% in 2024. In real terms, claims growth was slightly negative on average (‑0.1%). Half of the reporting jurisdictions recorded declines in real life claims payments, including Belgium, Croatia, Estonia, Italy and Portugal (Figure 3.2).
In per cent
Note: For more details, please see the methodological notes in Annex B.
Source: OECD Global Insurance Statistics.
A significant part of the slowdown in claims may be linked to the easing of surrender activity that followed the sharp increases in interest rates during 2022 and 2023. As interest rates rose, many policyholders surrendered existing contracts in favour of alternative savings products offering higher returns. These surrender payments are recorded as claims and therefore contributed to elevated life claims growth in several jurisdictions during that period. These pressures started to moderate in 2025. In Portugal, for example, nominal life insurance claims paid declined by around 23% in 2025, supported by a decline of around 19% in surrender payments. Italy reported that nominal life claims, including surrenders, fell by around 7% in 2025 following elevated lapse activity in 2022 and 2023. France reported a decline in real life claims of 5.0%, with lower surrender activity a key contributing factor. Taken together, these developments suggest that surrender pressures associated with the earlier sharp rise in interest rates have started to ease in some jurisdictions. As interest rates stabilised and financial market conditions improved, fewer policyholders withdrew funds from existing contracts.
In some jurisdictions, claims growth was driven by higher annuity payments as more policyholders reached retirement age. As populations age and a growing share of policyholders begin drawing retirement benefits, annuity payments will likely account for an increasing share of life insurance claims. In Uruguay, for example, annuity payments contributed to nominal life claims growth of 23.7%, reflecting the continued weight of annuity business in the market.