There has been steady demand for life insurance coverage in the United States over the last 24 months, much of it from people under the age of 45.

According to the Medical Information Bureau’s (MIB) Life Index, which measures application activity for individually underwritten life insurance in the US, the demand for coverage at the end of June was up by 1.1% year-over-year and 3.4% year-to-date. MIB says this marks the eighth consecutive quarter of growth, and means that the Index has now regained the levels it enjoyed in 2012.

Slight decline in June

Compared to the previous month, June's results were down by 1%; MIB says this slight decline is typical for the time of year. While in earlier periods most applications came from those under the age of 45, this month it was those over the age of 60 who were the most active insurance buyers, with a year-over-year increase of 2.3%. Demand from ages 0 to 44 was up 1.6%, and it was down by 0.6% in the 45 to 59 demographic.

“Long term trends by age group as measured by index values (Jan.-Jun. YTD 2016/2012) show a more granular view within the composite MIB Life Index,” concludes the report. “Ages 0-44 (54% of the composite) was 0.9% higher 2016/2012, ages 45-59 (29% of the composite) was -3.9% lower 2016/2012, and ages 60+ (17% of the composite) was 6.1% higher 2016/2012.”