Life insurers collected first-year premium of Rs 47,004.84 crore in July 2026, up 20.7% from Rs 38,958.05 crore a year earlier, according to IRDAI data. The growth marked an acceleration from 13% in June, driven largely by group single-premium business, which jumped 30.9% to Rs 27,857.01 crore.
The number of policies and schemes rose just 0.9% to 22.98 lakh, underscoring that premium growth outpaced policy volumes. LIC led the industry with a 23.8% rise in first-year premium to Rs 27,993.61 crore, helped by a 29.96% jump in group premium. Private insurers grew 16.34% to Rs 19,011.23 crore, with ICICI Prudential Life (up 20.7%) and Bajaj Life (up 20.3%) among the strongest performers.
Individual non-single premium, a key measure of regular retail business, rose 8.6% to Rs 10,914.69 crore, while individual single premium grew 10.7% to Rs 6,097.84 crore.
Sources: Business Standard, The Hindu BusinessLine, ET BFSI (August 7-13, 2026)