Life Insurance Market - Global Industry Size, Share, Trends, Opportunity, and Forecast, 2021-2031

The Global Life Insurance Market is projected to expand significantly, growing from a valuation of USD 4.96 Trillion in 2025 to USD 7.03 Trillion by 2031, reflecting a CAGR of 5.99%. Fundamentally, life insurance functions as a contractual agreement where an insurer promises a specific payout to beneficiaries upon the insured's death in return for scheduled premium payments. This market growth is chiefly underpinned by an aging global population requiring sturdy retirement planning solutions, alongside rising disposable incomes in emerging economies that enhance access to financial protection products. Supporting these demand factors, the Insurance Information Institute estimated that the global life insurance market reached a valuation of 3.1 trillion dollars in 2024.

Despite this positive outlook, the sector faces substantial hurdles stemming from enduring macroeconomic volatility and inflationary pressures. High inflation degrades consumer purchasing power and reduces the effective real value of coverage, frequently resulting in policy cancellations or delayed purchasing decisions. This economic instability complicates long-term financial planning for individuals and restricts the industry's capacity to deepen market penetration within price-sensitive regions.

Market Drivers

The accelerating expansion of the silver economy and aging demographics serves as a primary catalyst for the market, fundamentally shifting product demand toward longevity protection and retirement income solutions. As life expectancies rise, there is a heightened need for annuities and pension risk transfer mechanisms to guarantee financial stability after retirement, a trend further supported by favorable interest rates that make savings-linked policies attractive to older consumers. According to the Swiss Re Institute's 'Growth in the shadow of (geo-)politics' report from November 2024, this structural shift drove individual annuity sales in the United States to a projected record exceeding 400 billion USD in 2024. Additionally, the Swiss Re Institute forecast that global life insurance premiums would grow by 2.9% in real terms in 2024, reflecting a broader recovery fueled by these demographic necessities.

A second critical driver is the rise in disposable incomes and the growth of the middle class in emerging markets, particularly within the Asia-Pacific region where the protection gap remains wide. As economic prosperity increases, a larger segment of the population is gaining access to financial protection, transitioning from basic term life to investment-linked offerings. Insurers are actively capitalizing on this affordability to increase penetration in high-growth territories, with Allianz's 'Global Insurance Report 2024' from May 2024 noting that the Asian life insurance sector (excluding Japan) achieved robust premium growth of 14.9%. This economic mobility allows insurers to offset saturation in developed nations by capturing first-time buyers in developing economies.

Market Challenges

The progression of the Global Life Insurance Market is significantly obstructed by persistent macroeconomic instability and inflationary pressures, which directly undermine consumer financial resilience. Elevated inflation reduces real disposable income, compelling households to prioritize immediate necessities such as food and energy over long-term financial protection products. This economic strain results in a decrease in new policy sales and a rise in policy lapses as existing customers struggle to sustain premium payments. Moreover, inflation diminishes the real value of fixed death benefit payouts, rendering standard life insurance policies less appealing to potential buyers who fear the guaranteed coverage will remain insufficient to meet beneficiaries' future needs.

This adverse environment has visibly constrained the sector's actual expansion despite nominal gains. Allianz Research reported in 2024 that global insurance premiums had nearly stagnated in real terms, growing by only 0.7% since 2020 due to the eroding effects of high inflation. This stagnation highlights how rising prices have effectively neutralized much of the market's nominal growth, limiting the industry's ability to deepen penetration and provide meaningful financial security in economically volatile regions. The difficulty of maintaining real growth momentum amidst these pressures presents a formidable obstacle to the market's long-term trajectory.

Market Trends

AI-Driven Automated Underwriting is fundamentally reshaping risk assessment by replacing prolonged medical examinations with algorithmic data analysis. Insurers are increasingly utilizing machine learning to process applicant information - such as prescription histories and motor vehicle records - in real-time, drastically cutting policy issuance times from weeks to minutes. This technological shift enables carriers to minimize administrative costs while accurately pricing risk for broader demographics without the friction of invasive testing. As noted in the 'Data Readiness for AI' report by LIMRA and Equisoft in January 2025, 87% of life insurers are currently employing artificial intelligence in operational areas, including underwriting and new business, to streamline these critical functions.

Simultaneously, the market is seeing widespread adoption of Wellness-Linked Premium Incentives, transforming the policyholder relationship from static coverage to continuous engagement. Under this model, insurers integrate data from wearable devices to track health metrics like sleep patterns and physical activity, rewarding active customers with reduced premiums or other financial benefits. This approach not only mitigates long-term mortality risk by encouraging healthier lifestyles but also attracts younger, tech-savvy consumers who seek interactive value from their financial products. According to LIMRA's '2024 Insurance Barometer Study' from August 2024, 40% of Americans expressed willingness to participate in such wellness programs, indicating a significant rise in consumer receptivity to data-sharing models.

Key Players Profiled in the Life Insurance Market

• AIA Group Limited
• American International Group (AIG)
• Allianz SE
• AXA Group
• China Life Insurance (Overseas) Company Limited
• Berkshire Hathaway Life Insurance Company of Nebraska
• ING Bank A.S.
• Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd.
• The Prudential Insurance Company of America
• MetLife, Inc.

Report Scope

In this report, the Global Life Insurance Market has been segmented into the following categories:

Life Insurance Market, by Type:

• Term Life Insurance
• Whole Life Insurance
• Universal Life Insurance
• Others (Group Life Insurance
• etc.)

Life Insurance Market, by Premium Type:

• Regular
• Single

Life Insurance Market, by Premium Range:

• Low
• Medium
• High

Life Insurance Market, by Provider:

• Insurance Companies
• Insurance Agents/Brokers
• Insurtech Companies
• Others (Third Party)

Life Insurance Market, by Mode Of Purchase:

• Online
• Offline

Life Insurance Market, by Region:

• North America
• Europe
• Asia-Pacific
• South America
• Middle East & Africa

Competitive Landscape

Company Profiles: Detailed analysis of the major companies present in the Global Life Insurance Market.

Available Customization

The analyst offers customization according to your specific needs. The following customization options are available for the report:

• Detailed analysis and profiling of additional market players (up to five).

This product will be delivered within 1-3 business days.