New annualized premium for individual life insurance in the U.S. reached $3.94 bn in the first quarter of 2025, marking an 8% increase compared to the same period in 2024, according to LIMRA. The total number of policies rose by 1%.
Growth primarily came from indexed and variable universal life insurance. Indexed universal life (IUL) premium rose 11% to $959 mn, with 75% of carriers reporting increases and half posting double-digit growth.
Policy count for IUL increased by 7%, representing 24% of new annualized premium.
Variable universal life (VUL) premium grew 41% year-over-year to $533 mn. Policy count increased 6%, and 70% of carriers saw double- or triple-digit growth. VUL held a 14% share of the market in the first quarter.
Whole life insurance premium rose slightly to $1.48 bn. A 2% increase in policy count was supported by final expense and small policy sales. Whole life represented 37% of total new annualized premium for the quarter.
Term life insurance declined 1% to $738 mn, with more than half of carriers reporting decreases. Policy count dropped 2%.
Term life accounted for 19% of the market. According to LIMRA, middle-income and younger adults — key targets for term products — remain especially affected by economic uncertainty and inflation.
Fixed universal life fell 4% to $235 mn, marking its lowest quarterly result since Q3 2023. Policy count dropped 13%, and the product held a 6% market share in new premium.
For full-year 2024, new annualized life insurance premium increased by 4% to $16.2 bn, marking the fourth consecutive year of record results.
Policy counts remained steady year-over-year. In the fourth quarter alone, new premium grew 14% to $4.6 bn, with a 2% increase in policies sold.
