Behind the 7.4% increase in premiums: product innovation, dividend insurance becomes the new trend

Recent release of the 2025 insurance industry premium data has once again boosted market confidence. According to the latest disclosures from the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, the insurance industry achieved a total original premium income of 6.1194 trillion yuan in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 7.4%. Among them, life insurance premiums totaled 4.6491 trillion yuan, up 9.0%; property insurance original premiums reached 1.4703 trillion yuan, an increase of 2.6%.

The life insurance premium data announced this time has become a key growth engine for the industry, and it is estimated that approximately 50 trillion yuan in term deposits maturing in 2026 will present potential opportunities for insurance industry growth. At this “deposit migration wave” juncture, it is worth analyzing why insurance products can become an important force in channeling capital migration.

The insurance industry experiences a consumption boom before the Spring Festival

Starting from the eve of the Spring Festival, the national consumer market has entered a “peak of activity,” with robust supply and demand creating a vibrant picture of China’s economic vitality. From essential livelihood needs to quality consumption, diverse demands and continuously enriched market supply are precisely aligned, fostering a festive consumption boom.

Of particular interest is the financial consumption aspect. According to industry estimates, tens of trillions of yuan in fixed-term deposits will mature in 2026. Huatai Securities predicts that the scale of fixed-term deposits over one year maturing in 2026 will be around 50 trillion yuan, with state-owned banks holding the largest maturing deposits. The concentration of large sums of maturing funds has become a market focus, raising questions about where these funds will go next.

Many industry insiders say that residents’ demand for medium- and long-term stable returns has clearly increased, and insurance products can meet both household risk management and wealth appreciation goals. Especially, medium- and long-term products can align with residents’ long-term savings and retirement planning needs, making insurance a popular option for channeling this stable capital.

Since the beginning of 2026, the hot sales scenarios in the insurance industry have already confirmed market enthusiasm. Market statistics show that during the New Year’s holiday in 2026, the industry’s cumulative new policy premium scale exceeded 70 billion yuan. Additionally, some companies revealed that top insurance companies’ individual insurance channel premiums increased by over 10% year-on-year, with bancassurance channels seeing even more significant growth. Some small and medium insurers also reported completing quarterly KPIs within the three days of the New Year holiday, indicating strong market demand.

Product innovation, dividend insurance takes center stage

Faced with historic opportunities, the product structure of the insurance industry is rapidly adjusting. Among them, dividend insurance products with “guaranteed returns + floating dividends” are occupying an absolute “center stage.”

For example, Ping An Life launched Ping An Yu Xiang Jin Yue (2026) whole life insurance (dividend type) and Ping An Yu Xiang Jin Yue annuity insurance (dividend type); Sunshine Insurance’s Sunshine Life launched Zijing No.1 whole life insurance (dividend type); China Life Insurance introduced Xin Hong Fu retirement annuity (dividend insurance), among others.

Taking Sunshine Life’s “Zijing No.1” product as an example, it can address the uncertainties of life through lifelong coverage, counteract inflation erosion through effective increasing coverage, respond to market environment uncertainties through potential dividend distribution, and provide value-added services to address health and retirement resource access uncertainties.

As industry experts point out, the core appeal of dividend insurance lies in “certainty of returns during a declining interest rate cycle,” precisely aligning with the “deposit migration” trend. When residents shift from purely seeking safety to balancing returns and protection, dividend insurance just fills this demand gap.

Deposit migration is not a short-term phenomenon; the long-term value of the insurance industry is highlighted

Although this round of deposit migration has become a market hotspot, many industry insiders say it is not a short-term phenomenon but a potential medium-cycle trend. One analyst explained, “Medium cycle refers to 1–3 years. I believe this is one of the best opportunities in history because deposits don’t just mature in January and disappear by February; it’s a gradual process. So, three-year deposits mature gradually, and there will continue to be large amounts of deposits over at least three years. Therefore, at this stage, insurance still has great opportunities in the future.”

The growth in insurance demand has also led to recognition of sector valuation by institutions. Dongwu Securities notes that since 2023, new single-policy premiums have continued to grow rapidly, and with macroeconomic improvement, the demand for insurance product consumption is gradually recovering.

On the other hand, the positive outlook on the asset side of the insurance industry also supports valuation recovery expectations. Guotai Haitong Securities believes that, against the backdrop of increased market focus on value stocks, the core driver for the insurance sector is the valuation recovery driven by asset-side improvements. The long-term interest rate phase has stabilized temporarily, and increasing allocations to quality equity assets benefits stable investment returns.

Dongwu Securities states that the insurance industry exhibits significant pro-cyclical characteristics. Recently, long-term bond yields have continued to rise, and as the economy recovers, both liabilities and investments are expected to improve significantly.