The Insurance Commission (IC) reported on Wednesday, May 21, that the local life insurance industry’s total premium income surged 13.9 percent to ₱99.9 billion in the first quarter of the year, boosted largely by a massive jump in single premiums under variable life insurance.

By volume, the industry’s total premium income expanded by ₱12.2 billion from ₱87.7 billion in the same period last year.

Of the total life insurance premiums, a bulk or 67.7 percent came from variable life insurance, which increased by 22.8 percent. The remaining 32.3 percent of the total came from traditional life insurance, which experienced a 0.9 percent decline.

As such, Insurance Commissioner Reynaldo A. Regalado noted the strong performance of single premiums under variable life insurance mainly drove the growth. It surged by 53.7 percent during the period.

The industry’s new business annual premium equivalent (NBAPE) increased by 12.9 percent, rising to ₱18.9 billion in the first quarter of 2025 from ₱16.7 billion a year earlier.

The sector’s total net income also grew by 12.2 percent year on year, increasing to ₱10.8 billion from ₱9.7 billion last year. Regalado said this was supported by a 7.2-percent decrease in total benefit payments, which dropped from ₱31.2 billion to ₱28.9 billion.

Regalado noted that the 46-percent drop in investment income was offset by a 15.2-percent rise in total underwriting income, while total underwriting expenses remained steady at ₱89.5 billion during the period.

The total assets of the life insurance industry reached ₱1.93 trillion in the first quarter of 2025. This climbed by 3.6 percent from ₱1.86 trillion a year earlier.

Regalado said this was driven by a 4.7-percent increase in traditional invested assets and a 2.3 percent rise in segregated fund assets, which make up 39.4 percent and 55.5 percent of the industry's total assets, respectively.

Meanwhile, life insurers’ total liabilities rose by 2.5 percent, driven by a 2.2 percent increase in segregated fund liabilities and a 3.7 percent growth in aggregate reserves, which account for 65.1 percent and 21.5 percent of the industry's total liabilities, respectively.

Meanwhile, life insurers’ total net worth rose by 10 percent to ₱290 billion from ₱260 billion a year earlier. This was driven by an 18-percent growth in retained earnings, which make up 73.1 percent of the sector’s total net worth.

Contributed surplus also surged by 49.9 percent, climbing from ₱5.5 billion to ₱8.2 billion over the same period.

The sector’s total paid-up capital edged up by one percent, rising from ₱34.9 billion in the first quarter of 2024 to ₱35.3 billion this year.

Its invested assets also grew by 3.2 percent annually, reaching ₱1.86 trillion in the first quarter of 2025 from ₱1.80 trillion a year earlier. This was driven by increases in traditional invested assets and segregated fund invested assets.