Insurance Commission
MANILA, Philippines—Amid economic recovery and as more Filipinos saw the importance of insurance coverage, industrywide sales and profit grew in 2021 despite also bigger benefits paid to the insured public amid the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.
In a statement on Thursday (March 24), Insurance Commissioner Dennis Funa said the total premiums of life and non-life insurers as well as mutual benefit associations (MBAs) reached a new high of P374.7 billion last year, up 21.6 percent from P308.3 billion in 2020.
The insurance industry’s aggregate net income rose 18.6 percent to P48.3 billion in 2021 from P40.7 billion in 2020. “Life and non-life insurers and MBAs are bouncing back from the adverse economic effects of the pandemic, as evidenced by these numbers,” Funa said.
Last year’s benefits disbursed to clients jumped 41.9 percent to P139.8 billion from 2020’s P98.5 billion. Funa said larger benefit disbursements “highlighted the commitment and responsiveness of our insurers and MBAs to the needs of the insuring public despite the challenges posed by the pandemic.”
Across the insurance industry, total assets grew 8.4 percent to a record P2.1 trillion in 2021 from P1.9 trillion in 2020. Aggregate invested assets alone increased 7.9 percent to P1.8 trillion last year from P1.7 trillion in 2020. A higher asset base meant the industry has more resources and better capability to assume its liabilities.
On a per sector basis, the latest Insurance Commission (IC) data showed that life insurance companies grew their premium income by 25.2 percent to P310.2 billion in 2021 from P247.7 billion in 2020. Life insurers’ net income climbed 29.7 percent last year to P39.2 billion from P30.2 billion in 2020.
Non-life firms’ net premiums inched up 3.8 percent to P51.2 billion in 2021 from P49.3 billion in 2020, even as aviation insurance sales slid by 96.9 percent alongside declines in the fire and marine businesses, Funa said. The non-life sector’s net income nonetheless grew by 6.7 percent to P5.5 billion last year from 2020’s P5.1 billion.
On MBAs, their 2021 premium and contribution income increased to P13.2 billion from P11.2 billion in 2020, but last year’s total net surplus dropped 33.6 percent to P3.6 billion from 2020’s P5.4 billion due to “significant decrease in gross investment income by 16.2 percent and increase in benefit expenses by 35.1 percent,” Funa said.
These latest IC data were based on the reports submitted by 130 of the 136 insurance players licensed by the regulator.