Life insurers in India closed May with new business premium of Rs 27,034 crore, industry body Life Insurance Council said on Monday.

According to the business figures issued by the Life Insurance Council, the new business underwritten by the life insurers last month stood at Rs 27,034 crore, up from the Rs 23,448 crore booked in May 2023.

Driven by strong demand for enhanced insurance protection from individual consumers, new policy issuances too increased by 12.45 per cent on a Y-o-Y basis in May, resulting in the addition of 18,68,096 new policies vis-a-vis 16,61,324 policies in the year-ago period, the Council said.

According to the data released by the Life Insurance Council, the industry saw individual single premiums growing by 18.3 per cent on a year-on-year (Y-o-Y) basis to close at Rs 3,351 crore for May.

Individual non-single premiums came in at Rs 6,916 crore, marking a growth of 18.7 per cent in May.

The strong performance can be ascribed to the fact that life insurers are increasingly focusing on encouraging first-time buyers to purchase essential life insurance solutions.

In the group policy segment, single premiums grew by 16.7 per cent with monthly collections coming in at Rs 15,976 crore.

In fact, the group policy category witnessed a 13.15 per cent growth in premiums collected in May, while new policy issuances expanded by 21.15 per cent on a Y-o-Y basis, the Life Insurance Council said.