The insurance industry's performance report for the first 8 months of the year has been released.
The National Financial Regulatory Administration recently released the latest insurance industry performance data. From January to 8 of year 2026, the industry recorded gross premium income of 4.82 trillion yuan, a slight year-over-year rise of 0.4%. As of the end of 8, total assets reached 44.57 trillion yuan, an increase of 3.25 trillion yuan from the start of the year, representing growth of 7.9%.
Since 2023, China's insurance industry has maintained steady growth in total assets. The rapid growth in recent years is driven by multiple factors, including increased premium income, cost optimization, and improved asset allocation structure.
While total assets hit a new high, the scale of insurance fund deployment continued to grow. As of the end of 6 in 2026, the balance of funds deployed by insurance companies reached 2 trillion yuan, surpassing the 3 trillion yuan milestone.
Life insurance premium growth turns negative
From the perspective of premium income, in the first 8 months of the past 2026 years, the insurance sector achieved original insurance premium income of 4.82 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 0.4%. Among them, life insurance original premium income was 3.82 trillion yuan, up 0.7% year-on-year; property insurance original premium income was 9945 billion yuan, down 0.6% year-on-year.
From the perspective of claims and benefit payments, in the first 8 months of 2026, total insurance industry claims and benefit payments reached 1.76 trillion yuan, comprising 1.14 trillion yuan for life insurance and 6195 billion yuan for property insurance.
Overall, in the first 8 months of year 2026, life insurers reported gross premiums written of 3.57 trillion yuan, a year-over-year decline of 0.2%, marking a shift from positive to negative growth. In 8 alone, gross premiums written amounted to 4011 billion yuan, down 13.6% year over year, with the contraction deepening further.
Specifically, in the first 8 months of this year, life insurance gross premium income reached 2.98 trillion yuan, up 0.04% year over year; health insurance stood at 5721 billion yuan, down 1.1% year over year; and new policyholder investments (primarily universal life policies) totaled 4973 billion yuan, up 8.39% year over year.
This year, premium growth for personal insurance companies has slowed, driven by a high base from last year, monthly premium fluctuations, and policy measures to regulate market conduct. Notably, in 2026, the Personal Insurance Department of the National Financial Regulatory Administration issued the "Notice on Further Strengthening Expense Management in Bank Agency Channels" (commonly referred to as the "Bank-Insurance Document No. 65"), continuing to deepen regulatory requirements for the "reporting and execution alignment" in bank agency channels.
Soochow Securities Research Report: New policy growth in 7–8 faced short-term pressure, primarily due to the high base from the same period last year and regulatory Document No. 65 affecting bancassurance channels. Premium growth is expected to see marginal improvement in 9. We anticipate that "opening red" products launched by various insurers in 2027 will continue to focus on participating policies, with a design combining guaranteed returns (1.75%) and floating returns remaining attractive to customers.
Western Securities (002673)'s research report analysis suggests that the impact of front-loaded demand following the implementation of Insurance and Banking Document 65 has not yet fully dissipated. Combined with a high base from the same period last year, single-month premiums may continue to fluctuate in the short term, while the full-year cumulative growth rate is expected to shift downward. In the medium to long term, new regulations are driving the industry to shift from scale-based competition to value-based competition. Listed insurers hold advantages in product and channel refinement, and their competitive barriers are likely to strengthen further. Additionally, their ability to control liability costs is expected to improve.
Property and casualty insurers see robust growth in health insurance business
From the perspective of property insurance performance, in the first 8 months of 2026, property insurance companies generated gross written premiums of 1.25 trillion yuan, representing a year-over-year growth of 2.2%. Among them, auto insurance premiums remained flat, while health insurance premiums grew rapidly.
In the health insurance sector, life and property insurers combined generated 7838 billion yuan in direct premiums for health insurance, a year-over-year increase of 3.1%. Among them, property insurers recorded health insurance premiums of 2117 billion yuan, surging by 16.6% year over year, while life insurers saw a slight decline in their health insurance premiums during the same period.
Western Securities' research report indicates that non-auto insurance remains the core growth driver for the property and casualty (P&C) industry. As "reporting and execution alignment" is gradually implemented across non-auto insurance lines, chaotic fee competition is expected to stabilize. Listed insurers have room for continued improvement in expense ratios and combined ratios. Coupled with rising corporate risk protection needs and a more comprehensive social safety net, liability and health insurance segments are poised to sustain robust growth, supporting long-term, steady development of the P&C sector.
Dongwu Securities' research report suggests that natural disasters in Q3 were more frequent than a year ago, potentially impacting the short-term combined ratio (COR). However, with ongoing comprehensive non-auto insurance management and continuous cost reduction and efficiency improvements across insurers, the overall profitability of the property-casualty insurance sector is expected to gradually improve.
