U.S. life insurance application activity returned to growth in May 2023, with Year-over-Year (YOY) activity up +7.5%. When comparing May 2023 to the same month in prior years, activity was up +6.0% compared to 2021, up +8.0% compared to 2020, and up +3.4% compared to 2019. On a Year-to-Date (YTD) basis, activity through May 2023 was up +4.2% compared to May 2022. On a long-term basis, YTD activity was down -2.1% in May 2023 compared to 2021, up +6.4% compared to 2020 and up +5.9% compared to 2019. On a Month-over-Month (MOM) basis, May was up +5.0% compared to April, representing the first year of MOM growth from April to May since 2017.

Growth in May 2023 was concentrated on ages 0-60 with ages 0-30 up +9.3% YOY, ages 31-50 up +10.7%, ages 51-60 up +4.7%, ages 61-70 flat at +1.5%, and ages 71+ flat at +0.6%.

When examining YOY activity by face amounts, declining activity was seen for amounts up to and including $250K, and all other face amounts saw growth, in the double digits for amounts over $250K up to and including $5M. When including age bands, ages 0-30 saw double-digit growth for amounts over $250K up to and including $5M, and declines for all other face amounts, in the double digits for amounts over $5M. Ages 31-60 saw double-digit growth for amounts over $250K, and declines for amounts up to and including $250K. Ages 61-70 saw double-digit growth for amounts over $250K up to and including $5M, and declines for all other face amounts. Ages 71+ saw growth for amounts over $250K up to and including $5M, in the double digits for amounts over $500K up to and including $2.5M, and declines for all other face amounts.

May 2023 saw YOY growth for all product types, in the double digits for Universal Life. Specifically, Universal Life was up +13.1%, Term Life up +4.7%, and Whole Life up +8.9%. It is interesting to note that Universal Life has consistently seen YOY growth since November 2022.

When examining activity by product type and age band, Universal Life saw growth for ages 0-70, in the double digits for ages 0-50, and declines for ages 71+. Term Life saw growth for ages 0-60, and double digits declines for ages 61+. Whole Life saw growth for all ages, in the double digits for ages 0-50. It is interesting to note that this is the first month since November of 2021 that all age bands saw YOY growth for Whole Life.