Summary

Key Highlights
The life and non-life insurance market in Japan is estimated to register a CAGR of approximately 2% during the forecast period.
The insurance market in Japan is among the biggest markets in the world. The volume of life insurance is roughly worth JPY 35 trillion, and the country ranked second in thee total annual premium, after the United States. The insurance market for property and casualty (P&C) was roughly worth JPY 9 trillion, rand it ranked fourth, globally.
The annualized premium on new policies for individual insurance was JPY 2.48 trillion (111.6% year-on-year). The annualized premium new policies for individual annuity insurance was JPY 501.6 billion (118.4% year-on-year) Both these numbers resulted in an increase in the last two years. The annualized premium on policies in force was JPY 22.31 trillion (103.8% year-on-year) for individual insurance, which was an increase for 10 consecutive years, and 6.35 trillion JPY (99.8% year-on-year) for individual annuity insurance, which was a decrease for two consecutive years. Regarding the third sector, the annualized premium was JPY 779.0 billion (111.9% year-on-year) for new policies, which was an increase for six consecutive years, and JPY 6.85 trillion (104.9% year-on-year) for policies in force, which is constantly increasing.
In non-life insurance, the total direct premiums, including the saving portion, in fiscal 2018, amounted to JPY 9,414 billion, which was an increase of 1.5%. The total net premiums, in 2018, was valued at JPY 8,392.8 billion, up by 0.1%.The net claims paid on all classes of insurance during fiscal 2018 amounted to JPY 5,324.2 billion, which was an increase of 13.2% compared to the previous term. This increase was a result of the increase in earthquake insurance claim payments for the Northern Osaka earthquake and the 2018 Hokkaido eastern Iburi earthquake and an increase in fire insurance claim payments for the heavy rain event of July 2018.


Key Market Trends

Increase in Number of Individual Insurance Policies and Policies in Force

In 2018, there were 22.53 million new policies (130.4% year-on-year, including converted contracts), and the amount of benefits was worth JPY 66.73 trillion (116.4% year-on-year, including the net increase arising from the conversions) for new individual insurance policies. The number of new policies and the amount of benefits significantly increased due to strong sales in whole-life, term-life, and cancer insurance. There were 181.29 million individual life insurance policies in force (104.8% year-on-year), and the total amount of benefits was worth JPY 848.69 trillion (99.5% year-on-year). The number of insurance policies in force has been increasing for 11 consecutive years. Moreover, the recent trend of supplementing medical coverage suppressed the amount of death coverage, and it remained equal to the previous year.

Dominance of Automotive Insurance:

Automobile insurance (including compulsory automobile liability insurance) accounts for 60% of Japan's net premium. A "classification system" determines premiums based on histories of accidents by policyholders. Auto-policy sales are dominated by governments, at 4% floating, and the direct sales are rising. Enormous changes are anticipated within the automobile industry, as advanced telematics become more widespread.

Competitive Landscape

The report covers the major players operating in the life and non-life insurance market in Japan. The market is consolidated. The life insurance segment companies hold approximately 51% market share. In the non-life segment, the top-three companies hold 87% of the market share. The market is expected to grow during the forecast period.

Additional Benefits:

The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format
3 months of analyst support

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