THE Philippines’ insurance penetration rate slipped below the government’s target in the second quarter, falling to 1.96 percent, data from the Insurance Commission (IC) showed.
Insurance penetration, or the ratio of total insurance premiums collected to the gross domestic product (GDP), stood at 1.96 percent in the second quarter, 0.8 percentage points lower than the 2.04 percent recorded in the previous quarter.
Compared with the same period last year, the rate increased by 0.16 percentage points, from 1.8 percent, due to a ‘substantial increase’ in premium collections by insurance companies, IC said.
Second-quarter combined premium collections of the insurance industry jumped by 16.24 percent to P282.91 billion from P243.39 billion a year ago.
Bulk of the premium collections was accounted for by the life insurance industry, which rose by 17.91 percent year-on-year to P229.98 billion from P195.05 billion, driven by variable life insurance products.
Meanwhile, premium collections by the non-life insurance industry also grew by 9.96 percent to P44.19 billion from P40.18 billion a year earlier.
Mutual benefit associations (MBAs), likewise, posted a 7.06-percent increase in total contributions, which went up to P8.73 billion from last year’s P8.15 billion.
Insurance density, or the average spending of each individual on insurance, also expanded by 15.24 percent to P2,468.63 in the second quarter from P2,142.19 in the comparable period last year.
Total benefits paid by the entire industry surged by 16.69 percent year-on-year to P90.87 billion from P77.87 billion.
Other key indicators also posted increases, with total assets and net worth reaching P2.761 trillion and P515.549 billion, respectively.
‘The Commission views these developments as encouraging indicators, underscoring rising public awareness of financial protection, greater insurance adoption, and growing confidence in the insurance industry,’ IC said in a statement.