Demand for life insurance in the United States sharply declined during the month of March, according to the MIB Life Index.

Each month, the MIB Life Index measures application activity for individually underwritten life insurance in the U.S. The March report, released April 13, showed a 6 per cent drop in application activity, one of the steepest monthly declines of recent record, notes MIB.

Down 4.5 per cent year-to-date

The Index was down 4.5 per cent YTD at the end of the first quarter of 2017. It was affected by year-over-year declines in the first months of 2017. Month-over-month, March application activity declined 2.7 per cent from February.

Until the second quarter of 2016, MIB’s composite index had experienced a record growth streak lasting eight consecutive quarters.

Off sharply across all three age groups

“U.S. life insurance application activity was off sharply across all three age groups,” observes MIB’s report. Ages 0-44 saw a decline of 5.3 per cent in March, while ages 45-59 were down 8.4 per cent, and ages 60 and over was off 4.5 per cent. By the end of the quarter, it was down 4.3 per cent YTD for ages 0-44, 6.4 per cent YTD for ages 49-55, and 2.1 per cent YTD for ages 60 and over.