Life Insurance Activity Growing 'Steady' So Far In 2021: MIB

Life insurance application activity continues to grow at a steady pace early in 2021, with year-over-year activity up 3.9%, according to the January MIB Life Index.

Growth was largely driven by the 31-50 age group, up 8.5%, MIB reported, while older age groups 61 and older declined year over year.

Growth in January was seen across all age bands up to and including age 60. Specifically, up to age 30 grew by 3.7%, and 51-60 grew by 2.9%. Meanwhile, ages 61 and above saw declines in the month with age 61-70 at -1.8% and ages 71+ at -10.9% over January 2020 transaction volumes.

Composite year-over-year growth in January was largely driven by face amounts up to and including $2.5 million and over $5 million, MIB explained.

When looking at age bands, results were mixed. Activity for younger age groups ages 0-50 increased across all face amounts up to and including $5 million. Double-digit declines were seen in face amounts over $5 million for both ages 0-30 and those ages 61+.

Additionally, older applicants ages 71+ saw double-digit declines in all face amounts above $250,000 as compared to January 2020.

Among those ages 0-60, year-over-year growth centered on term and universal life products with whole life activity remaining relatively flat, MIB said.

Ages 31-50 saw double-digit growth of +10.2% for term and +16.2% for universal life. In contrast, ages 71+ saw declines across all product types with universal life declines of -6.8%, term of -4.0% and whole life of -3.8%.

On a monthly basis, January 2021 activity was relatively flat compared to December 2020 at +1.69%, MIB reported. Of note, January saw increased activity over December among older age groups with ages 61-70 up 5.6% and age 71+ up 9.8% month over month.