India's life insurance industry recorded a sharp rise in new business premium in July 2026, with first-year premium collections reaching ₹47,005 crore, representing a 20.7% increase from ₹38,958 crore in the same month last year, according to data from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI). However, the growth in premium collections significantly outpaced the growth in policy volumes, with the number of policies and schemes increasing by just 0.9% to 22.98 lakh in July 2026 from 22.78 lakh a year earlier. The number of lives covered under group schemes declined 6.6% to 2.15 crore during the month.
The divergence between premium growth and policy volumes was largely driven by group single-premium business, which emerged as the key driver of premium growth. Industry-wide group single premium jumped 30.9% to ₹27,857.01 crore in July from ₹21,280.53 crore a year ago. In comparison, individual non-single premium, representing a key part of regular retail life insurance business, increased 8.6% to ₹10,914.69 crore from ₹10,051.05 crore, while individual single premium rose 10.7% to ₹6,097.84 crore.
State-owned Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) led the industry's premium growth during the month, with first-year premium increasing 23.8% to ₹27,993.61 crore from ₹22,617.64 crore in July 2025, even as its number of policies and schemes declined 1.9% to 14.35 lakh. LIC's growth was supported by a 31.5% surge in group single premium to ₹20,930.08 crore. Private life insurers collectively reported a 16.3% rise in first-year premium to ₹19,011.23 crore from ₹16,340.41 crore, with the number of policies and schemes rising 5.9% to 8.64 lakh from 8.16 lakh. During April-July 2026, private insurers grew 23%, outpacing LIC's 14% growth.
For the first four months of the current financial year through July, the industry's first-year premium stood at ₹1.56 lakh crore, up 17.5% from ₹1.33 lakh crore in the corresponding period last year. The cumulative number of policies and schemes rose at a slower pace of 4.3% to 74.12 lakh, indicating sustained momentum in premium collections despite slower growth in policy volumes across the industry.
