India to overtake Japan as Asia’s second-largest life insurance market: Allianz
India is set to surpass Japan as Asia’s second-largest life insurance market by 2035, driven by a 10.5% CAGR, says Allianz. In 2024, total insurance premiums hit $145B, with strong growth in health and life segments. Despite rapid gains, insurance penetration remains low in India.
India’s life insurance market is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.5% over the next decade, overtaking Japan to become the second-largest in Asia, a report by Allianz Research said.
According to the Allianz Global Insurance Report 2025, China’s life insurance sector is projected to grow at a CAGR of 7.8% between 2025 and 2035, and will continue to dominate the region in absolute terms. However, it identifies India as the real growth champion. “As a result, the Indian life insurance market will overtake Japan to become the second largest in the region,” the report said.
In 2024, India’s overall insurance market (across all segments) grew by 10.6%, outpacing the previous year’s 7.7% expansion, with total premium income reaching $145 billion. All segments contributed to this momentum, led by health insurance (still the smallest segment) which surged 20.8%. Life insurance, which accounts for nearly three-quarters of the market, also recorded a robust growth of 10.6%, up from 7.7% in 2023.
India’s growth in the property and casualty (P&C) segment eased slightly from 8.9% in 2023 to 7.9% in 2024, but it is projected to grow by a CAGR of 9.5% over the next decade.
According to the report, the global insurance industry is estimated to have grown by 8.6% in 2024. This again exceeded the exceptional +8.2% growth recorded in the previous year.
Insurance companies worldwide experienced an increase in premiums of $577 billion, bringing total premium income to $7.3 trillion. Life insurance remained the largest segment with premium income of $3,005 billion, followed by P&C insurance ($2,510 billion) and health insurance ($1,741 billion).
