Demand for life insurance in the U.S. declined 0.3 per cent during the month of April compared to the same month the year before.

Each month, the MIB Life Index measures application activity for individually underwritten life insurance in the United States. MIB says the slight decline in April represents an improvement over the significant declines seen over the previous three months.

With a third of the calendar year completed, the MIB Life Index is off -3.4% YTD.

Keeping pace

“In relative terms, the April 2016 comparative MIB Life Index value was the strongest April Index value in the last five years,” says MIB’s report.

“April 2017’s slight year-over-year decline shows that application activity is keeping pace.”

Application activity across age groups was mixed. Demand for the 0-44 age group was up 0.5%, ages 45-59 declined 2.8%, and ages 60+ was up 1.1%.