U.S. life insurance application activity was up +1.8% Year-over-Year (YOY) in August 2023 compared to August 2022 and on a Year-to-Date (YTD) basis was up +3.4%. When taking a historical lookback and comparing August 2023 to the same month in prior years, activity was down -3.2% YOY compared to 2021, up +2.1% compared to 2020, and up +6.0% compared to 2019. On a Year-to-Date (YTD) basis, historical activity through August 2023 was down -2.9% compared to 2021, up +2.3% compared to 2020, and up +5.5% compared to 2019.

Continuing a pattern seen since February 2023, ages 0-50 lead in YOY growth in August 2023, outpacing other age bands by several perecentage points. Activity was up +5.6% YOY for ages 0-30 and up +5.0% for ages 31-50, while activity for ages 51-60 was down -3.0%, ages 61-70 down -5.8%, and ages 71+ down -2.9%.

When examining YOY activity by face amount, double-digit growth was seen for amounts over $250K while amounts up to and including $250K saw declines. When including age bands, ages 0-30 saw growth for all face amounts, with double-digit growth for amounts over $500K. Ages 31-50 saw flat activity for amounts up to and including $250K, and growth for all other face amounts, in the double digits for amounts over $500K. Ages 51+ saw declines for amounts up to and including $250K and double-digit growth for all other face amounts.

August 2023 saw YOY flat activity for Term Life, growth for Universal Life, and declines for Whole Life. Specifically, Term Life was flat at -0.1%, Universal Life was up +4.5%, and Whole Life down -2.0%. It is interesting to note that Universal Life has consistently outpaced the other two product types in YOY growth since November 2022.

When examining activity by product type and age band, Term Life saw growth for ages 0-50 and declines for all other age bands, in the double digits for ages 61+. Universal Life saw growth for ages 0-50, in the double digits for ages 31-50, and declines for ages 51+, in the double digits for ages 71+. Whole Life saw flat activity for ages 0-30, growth for ages 31-50, declines for ages 51-70, in the double digits for ages 51-60, and growth for ages 71+.