Life application activity down in July, MIB Index reports

U.S. life insurance application activity declined in July 2022 compared to July 2021, with Year-over-Year (YOY) activity at -7.7%. When comparing July 2022 to the same month in prior years, activity was down -13.0% compared to a COVID-related spike that took place in July of 2020. YOY Activity was flat at -1.0% when compared to July 2019. On a Year-to-Date (YTD) basis, activity through July 2022 was down -6.3% compared to July 2021. When taking a historical lookback, July 2022 YTD activity was flat compared to July 2020 and 2019, at -1.3% and +1.7%, respectively. On a Month-over-Month (MOM) basis, July saw a decline at -7.3% compared to June 2022, in a pattern consistent with normal seasonal trends.

Continuing a pattern seen all year, ages 71+ significantly outpaced all other age bands in growth. Activity for ages 71+ was flat at +1.3%, and down for all other categories with ages 0-30 down -6.9%, ages 31-50 down -9.1%, ages 51-60 down -9.6% and ages 61-70 down -5.7%.

On a YTD basis, activity for face amounts over $5M is flat through July, while all other face amounts saw declines. When examining YOY activity, all face amounts saw declines, in the double digits for face amounts over $5M. When adding in an age band analysis, ages 0-30 saw double-digit declining YOY activity for amounts up to and including $250K and amounts over $5M, flat activity for amounts over $500K up to and including $1M, and growth for all other face amounts, in the double digits for amounts over $2.5M up to and including $5M. Ages 31-50 saw YOY declines for all face amounts, in the double digits for amounts up to and including $250K and amounts over $5M. Ages 51-60 saw YOY declines for all face amounts, in the double digits for amounts over $5M. Ages 61-70 saw YOY declines for all face amounts, in the double digits for amounts over $250K. Ages 71+ saw YOY growth for face amounts up to and including $250K, and double-digit declines for all other categories.

July 2022 saw declining YOY activity for all product types with Term Life down -6.0%, Universal Life down -5.6%, and Whole Life down -16.2%. Term Life saw flat activity for ages 0-30 and declining activity for ages 31+. Universal Life saw growth for ages 0-30 and declining activity for ages 31+. Whole Life saw declining activity across all age bands, with double-digit declines for ages 0-70.