MIB Life Index

Canadian Life Insurance Application Activity Continues to Decline YOY in July

Flat for ages 61-70 and declines for all other age groups

August 8, 2022

Canadian life insurance application activity showed declining activity at -9.9% Year-over-Year (YOY) in July 2022 compared to July 2021, continuing a pattern of YOY declines that began in July 2021. On a Year-to-Date (YTD) basis, activity through July 2022 was down -10.9% compared to 2021. On a Month-Over-Month (MOM) basis, July 2022 activity saw double-digit declines at -17.1% compared to June 2021.

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July saw flat YOY activity for ages 61-70, but declining activity across all other age bands, in the double digits for age 31-50 and 71+. Activity for ages 0-30 was down -5.5%, ages 31-50 down -14.5%, ages 51-60 down -6.7%, ages 61-70 flat at -1.6%, and ages 71+ down -10.4%.

When examining activity by face amount, July saw double-digit YOY declines for amounts up to and including $500K and growth for all other face amounts, in the double digits for amounts over $1M up to and including $2.5M and amounts over $5M.

When including age bands, ages 0-30 saw, declines for amounts up to and including $500K, in the double-digits for amounts up to and including $250K, double-digit growth for amounts over $500K up to and including $2.5M, flat activity for amount over $2.5M up to and including $5M, and double-digit declines for face amounts over $5M. Ages 31-50 saw declines for amounts up to and including $1M, in the double digits for amounts up to and including $500K, and growth for all other categories, in the double digits for amounts over $1M up to and including $2.5M and amounts over $5M. Ages 51-60 saw double-digit growth for face amounts over $500K up to $1M and face amounts over $2.5M, while all other face amounts saw declines, in the double digits for face amounts up to and including $500K. Ages 61-70 saw growth for amounts over $250K up to and including $1M as well as for amounts over $2.5M, in the double digits for amounts over $250K up to and including $500K and amounts over $5M, while all other face amounts saw declines, in the double digits for face amounts up to and including $250K. Ages 71+ saw flat activity for amounts over $1M up to and including $2.5M and declines for all other face amounts, in the double digits for amounts over $250K up to and including $1M and amounts over $2.5M.

When examining activity patterns where a product type was submitted to MIB, Universal Life showed double-digit YOY growth in July, while Whole Life showed flat activity and Term Life showed declines. When examining age bands, YOY activity for Term Life saw declines for ages 0-60 and 71+, in the double digits for ages 31-50, and flat activity for ages 61-70. Universal Life saw double-digit YOY growth for ages 0-70, and double-digit declines for ages 71+. Whole Life saw YOY growth for ages 0-30 and declines across all other age bands.

About 30% of total Life Index volume for Canada in July did not include a product type. We believe the vast majority of these submissions are for Life Insurance applications and have included them in the composite analysis presented in this report. Missing product type information has a significant impact on the Canadian analysis. When looking solely at submissions identified as Life Insurance products, YOY activity for Canada in July is flat at -0.1% and YTD is down -3.7%.

NOTE: Due to frequent missing information regarding the applicant’s country of residence, effective June 2021 we are now identifying Canadian activity based on the company country.

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