The insurance industry in India has witnessed an impressive growth rate over the last two decades driven by the greater private sector participation and an improvement in distribution capabilities, along with substantial improvements in operational efficiencies.
In FY24, non-life players’ saw a premium income increase by 19.5% year-over-year to Rs. 1,14,972 crore (US$ 13.8 billion) due to strong demand for health and motor policies. The business growth for FY24 was driven by health (especially the group segment), motor, and crop insurance.
Indian government is gearing up to introduce 100% FDI in Insurance from the current ceiling of 74%, the sector currently includes 24 life insurance providers, 26 general insurers, six standalone health insurers, and one reinsurer.
The business growth for FY24 was driven by health (especially the group segment), motor, and crop insurance.
In 2025 (April - June 2024), life insurers’ new business premiums grew to US$ 10.8 billion, according to Life Insurance Council data.
In the first-year premium share of life insurance in India, LIC dominates with 64.02%, while the private sector holds 35.98%.
Among the private players, SBI Life, HDFC Life and ICICI Prudential Life led the industry in premium collection. SBI Life collected Rs. 7,032.7 crore (US$ 845 million) premium, while HDFC Life and ICICI Prudential Life received Rs. 6,540.4 crore (US$ 785 million) and Rs. 3,768.5 crore (US$ 452 million), respectively.
The premium in the month of March 2023 for the private life insurance industry grew at a healthy pace of 35% on a year-on-year basis and 20% for FY23.
Life insurance firms collected 18% more premiums in FY23 compared to the year before. Life insurers collected Rs. 3.71 lakh crore (US$ 44.85 billion) as the first-year premium in FY23 as against Rs. 3.14 lakh crore (US$ 37.96 billion) in FY22, shows the latest IRDAI data.
Mr. Debashish Panda, Chairman, IRDAI informed that the insurance industry of India has become a Rs. 59 crore (US$ 7.1 million) industry as of February 2023.
Driven by a pick-up in health and motor insurance segments, the non-life insurance industry has grown by 16.4% in FY23 compared to 11.1% in the previous year.
In FY24 (Until January) Among the private players, SBI Life, HDFC Life and ICICI Prudential Life led the industry in premium collection. SBI Life collected Rs. 31,218 crore (US$ 3.76 billion) premium while HDFC Life and ICICI Prudential Life received Rs. 22,744 crore (US$ 2.74 billion) and Rs. 13,091 crore (US$ 1.58 billion), respectively.
As expected, the state-run insurance behemoth LIC alone contributed over 58.6% to the total new business premium collection. The insurer received close to Rs. 166,326 crore (US$ 20.02 billion) as premium in FY24 (Until January 2024).
According to the latest data released by the insurance regulator – the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India - LIC improved its market share by 67.72% as of October, a gain of 447 basis points (bps). At the end of 2021-22, private players had a 36.75% share of the life insurance market, while LIC had 63.25%.
With nearly 62.58% of the new business market share in FY23, Life Insurance Corporation of India, the only public sector life insurer in the country, continued to be the market leader.
In FY23, non-life insurers (comprising general insurers, standalone health insurers and specialized insurers) recorded a 16.4% growth in gross direct premiums.
In India, gross premiums written off by non-life insurers reached US$ 10.95 billion in FY24* and US$ 31 billion in FY23.
In the financial year 2023, India's insurance premium penetration accounted for 4% of the GDP, with life insurance making up 3% and non-life insurance comprising 1%.
The penetration of Indian insurance industry was less than 5% of the GDP. IRDAI data shows that India’s insurance penetration was 4% of the GDP in 2022-23.
Premiums from India’s life insurance industry is expected to reach Rs. 24 lakh crore (US$ 317.98 billion).
The market share of private sector companies in the general and health insurance market increased from 48.03% in FY20 to 49.31% in FY21 to 62.5% in FY23.
According to S&P Global Market Intelligence data, India is the second-largest insurance technology market in Asia-Pacific, accounting for 35% of the US$ 3.66 billion Insurtech-focused venture investments made in the country.