According to a survey by LIMRA International, U.S. individual life insurance sales went up 7 percent in 2006. Life insurance sales have not increased at this pace since 2000.
LIMRA also reported that total face amount sold in 2006 rose by 4 percent over the previous year; the total num-ber of new policies sold declined by 1 percent. Sixty of the 74 companies that participated in the survey reported an increase in their total life sales over 2005. More than 40 percent showed double-digit increases. However, one-third of companies showed declines.
Nine percent growth was experienced in both universal life and variable universal life sales. Term life increased by 5 percent for the year, with an increase of 10 percent in the fourth quarter. Whole life sales went up 2 percent. Approximately 40 percent of the premium market share came from universal life sales. Survivorship sales ended the year 3 percent lower than 2005.
