31+ Compelling Life Insurance Stats For 2023 & Beyond

Many believe life insurance is just something we have to get for our family. But it doesn’t have to be so boring!

Whether you’re trying to find more general stats on life insurance or decide if it’s for you, these life insurance stats should provide you with all you need to know about life insurance.

This is a complete list of up-to-date life insurance statistics in 2023.

Life Insurance Stats For 2023

1. Only 52% of consumers reported owning a life insurance policy in 2023, which is a decrease from 62% in 2012. (LIMRA)

2. 41% of people report they are going to self-pay for their final expenses, like a funeral and burial or cremation. (Seniors Mutual)

3. 48% of people said they would be more likely to buy insurance if it didn’t have a medical exam and used simplified underwriting. (LIMRA)

4. Northwestern had the highest amount of individual life insurance premiums written by any life insurance company in 2021. (Insurance Information Institute)

5. 102 million Americans reported they were uninsured or underinsured for life insurance and know they needed more. (LIMRA)


6. 52% of people reported having a will to facilitate their life insurance in 2022. (Seniors Mutual)


7. Half of the population estimates the cost of life insurance at more than three times the actual cost. (Insurance Information Institute)

8. 31% of Americans said they were more likely to buy life insurance because of the COVID-19 pandemic. (LIMRA)

9. 63% of people now say they would rather be cremated rather than buried, citing the rising costs of funerals and burials. (Seniors Mutual)

10. 29% of adults intend to buy life insurance online rather than in person or over the phone. (Policy Genius)


11. 42% of those that tested positive for COVID-19 are more likely to buy life insurance. (LIMRA)

12. 40% of insured people wished they had bought their policy at a younger age. (Policy Genius)

13. 80% of policyholders want to manage their policy online and through digital channels. (EY)

14. Smoker rates are 15-20% more expensive than non-smoker rates. (Seniors Mutual)

15. The #1 reason people don’t purchase life insurance is that it’s perceived to be too expensive. (LIMRA)

16. 17.4% of Taiwan’s GDP is life insurance, as opposed to only 12% in the U.S. Globally, it is around 7%. (Statista)

17. 30% of consumers view life insurance purely as a tool to pay for the final expenses. (LIMRA)

18. Men pay 24% more on average than women for life insurance. (Policy Genius)

19. 41 million Americans say they need life insurance but do not have it. (Insurance Information Institute)

20. Wealth transfer was the #2 reason someone would buy life insurance. (Policy Genius)


21. Only 47% of women own life insurance, compared to 58% of men. (LIMRA)

22. 50% of all life insurance policies are sold by independent agents. (Insurance Information Institute)

23. The Presbyterian Ministry Fund, started by Ben Franklin in 1759, was America’s first insurance company. (Investopedia)

24. California is the nation’s largest life insurance state, with over $356 billion in face value. (Policy Genius)

25. 14% of women lost their life insurance coverage during the pandemic due to unplanned job loss. (LIMRA)


26. There are over 1 million insurance agents, brokers, and employees in the United States. (IBISWorld)

27. Northwestern Life has the highest market share of the life insurance market at 7.5%. (National Association Of Insurance Commissioners)

28. There are only 747 life insurers in the United States, down from 1,341 in 2001. (Statista)

29. The 35-45 age group is the most likely to buy life insurance. (LIMRA)

30. 99% of all term life insurance policies never pay out. (Penn State University)

31. The average life insurance premium is $27 a month. (Nerdwallet)

Summary

To sum it all up:

• Less and less Americans are buying life insurance
• Most people overestimate how much life insurance truly costs
• Women buy less life insurance than men
• Life insurance is increasingly being sold by fewer companies
• Independent agents are on the rise

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