U.S. life insurance application activity declined in October 2022 compared to October 2021, with Year-over-Year (YOY) activity down -5.2%. On a Year-to-Date (YTD) basis, activity through October 2022 was down -6.2% compared to October 2021. When taking a historical lookback, October 2022 remains close to prior years with YTD activity down -2.0% compared with October 2020, and up +1.6% compared with October 2019. On a Month-over-Month (MOM) basis, October 2022 was up +4.9% compared to September 2022.

Ages 0-60 saw declining YOY activity in October, while ages 61+ saw flat activity. Ages 71+ continues to lead all other age bands in growth, however, not as significantly as was observed earlier in the year. October YOY activity for ages 0-30 was down -6.9%, ages 31-50 down -7.4%, ages 51-60 down -3.0%, ages 61-70 flat at +0.2%, and ages 71+ flat at+1.3%. It is interesting to note that the highest total volume of application activity by age band in October is for ages 31-50, followed in order by ages 0-30, 51-60, 61-70 and 71+. Growth YOY follows the reverse pattern with age 71+ in the lead, followed in order by ages 61-70, 51-60, 0-30 and ages 31-50.

When examining YOY activity by face amounts, growth was seen for face amounts over $1M up to and including $2.5M. Face amounts over $250K up to and including $1M and amounts over $2.5M up to and including $5M saw flat activity and all other face amounts saw declines. On a YTD basis, face amounts over $1M up to and including $2.5M saw flat activity through October, while all other face amounts saw declines.

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

October 2022 saw flat or declining activity YOY across all product types with Term Life flat at +0.4%, Universal Life down -6.2%, and Whole Life down -14.3%. Term Life saw growth for ages 0-30, flat activity for ages 31-70, and declining activity for ages 71+. Universal Life saw declining activity for ages 0-50, in the double digits for ages 31-50, flat activity for ages 51-60, and growth for ages 61+. Whole Life saw declining activity for ages 0-70, in the double digits for ages 0-50, and flat activity for ages 71+.