The Worlds Largest Life Insurers, 2023 (2024)

Allianz SE, China Life Insurance Co. Ltd. and Nippon Life Insurance Co. are the three largest life insurance companies in the world, according to a new ranking by S&P Global Market Intelligence.

European companies from six countries dominated the list of top 50 global life insurers ranked by life and accident & health reserves, taking 21 spots. In Europe, the United Kingdom is home to the most companies on the list with seven carriers headquartered there.

Asia accounts for 17 spots on the list of top global life insurers, making it the region with the second-highest number. Mainland China and Japan shared top spot in Asia with five companies headquartered there.

North America took 12 spots on the list with eight companies based in the US, two in Canada and two in Bermuda. On an individual country basis, the US has the highest number of life insurers on the top 50 list, with eight.

MetLife Inc., the largest life insurance company based in the US, ranks seventh on the list of the largest global life insurers. Prudential Financial Inc., the second-largest life insurance company headquartered in the US, placed eighth in the ranking.

Companies are ranked by 2022 life and accident & health reserves. Life and accident & health reserves generally represent a liability to provide for future commitments under outstanding policies. The exact components of reserves may vary based on the specific accounting regime followed by the companies listed. Analysis is a best-efforts basis limited to public insurance companies around the world and non-public insurance companies in North America and Europe.

Figures are based on originally reported values which may differ to any restated value such as accounting changes in Long-Duration Targeted Improvements in the US and in International Financial Reporting Standards in other geographies. Follow this link to download the data in Microsoft Excel.

Watching wealth transfer

When asked to highlight future issues that life insurers will need to contend with, experts said one of the biggest themes is going to be how the global life insurance industry will adapt to the forthcoming large-scale transfer of wealth from one generation to the next.

"There's not a single area in the world that isn't going to be experiencing that wealth transfer," said Samantha Chow, global leader for the life, annuities and benefits sector at Capgemini, noting that this transfer of wealth will be fueled by challenges centered around an aging population. The life insurance industry is not yet ready to address this challenge as it does not have the right products and technology, Chow said in an interview.

Brian Galbraith, principal at Deloitte with its insurance practice, said in an interview that in addition to aging populations and lower birth rates, there's been a shift in how people think about life insurance. The "explosive growth" in the demand for cover seen during the pandemic has started to plateau but life insurers are keen to find opportunities for growth amongst the evolving demographics, according to Galbraith.

Growth prospects

Chow expects 2024 will be a "hard year" for dealmakers in the US, especially in light of it being a presidential election year.

The election is scheduled for November 2024 and a new administration would see new leadership at the regulatory watchdogs in Washington policing mergers and acquisitions.

"I don't think we're going to see a lot of M&A throughout the course of next year and if we do it'll probably be within the first quarter or first half of the year," Chow said.

Karl Hersch, Deloitte's US insurance leader, expects the life industry to experience tempered levels of growth in the US and Europe in light of macroeconomic factors while seeing more opportunities in emerging markets.

"The growth I'm expecting to see is more in the emerging markets where you already have a higher underserved population and there's more opportunity," Hersch said.

Rob Sims, managing director and partner with Boston Consulting Group's insurance practice, is seeing the rise of a more digitally led experience in Asia than anywhere else in the world.

"The players who are really being successful are investing heavily in their digital capabilities but also in their agents," Sims said in an interview.

Overall, experts agreed that the use of artificial intelligence is set to impact every part of the insurance value chain including products, marketing, underwriting and claims, with one of the largest impacts being in customer service.

This article was published by S&P Global Market Intelligence and not by S&P Global Ratings, which is a separately managed division of S&P Global.