Depending on which measure you look at, Canadian life insurance application activity saw year-over-year growth of 5.2 per cent or 9.1 per cent in February 2024, according to the most recent report on Canadian life insurance application activity from Massachusetts-based, MIB Group.
“This is the 10th consecutive month that Canadian activity has seen year-over-year growth,” the report states. “February 2024 saw flat year-over-year activity for ages zero to 30, declines for ages 31 to 50, growth for ages 51+, in the double digits for ages 61 to 70 and triple digits for ages 71+,” the monthly report states. Activity for ages 61 to 70 and over age 71 was up a notable 33.1 per cent and 155.2 per cent, respectively.
On a year-to-date basis, activity in February 2024 continued in positive territory, up 7.6 per cent when compared to the same period in 2023. Month-over-month, February 2024 activity grew 10.4 per cent when compared to January 2024.
Double-digit year-over-year growth
“February saw double-digit year-over-year growth for amounts up to and including $250,000, flat activity for amounts over $2.5-million, up to and including $5-million, and declines for all other amounts, in the double digits for amounts over $5-million,” MIB continues.
When looking at activity patterns where a product type was submitted to the company, universal life saw double digit year-over-year growth, whole life saw “growth” and term life application activity declined.
“About 32 per cent of total Life Index volume for Canada in February 2024 did not include a product type. We believe the vast majority of these submissions are for life insurance applications and have included them in the composite analysis presented in this report,” they conclude, saying activity remains up – 9.1 per cent year-over-year and 9.1 per cent year-to-date even when looking solely at submissions identified as life insurance products.
