As of 31 March 2026, there are 4m life insurance covers across New Zealand, against an estimated population of 5.35m. At the same time, annual life insurance premiums reached NZ$3.31bn ($1.93bn), up 2.7% y-o-y, even as cover numbers continue to fall.
According to the Financial Services Council’s (FSC) latest ‘Spotlight on Life Insurance’, this means that New Zealanders are still paying for important protection, though fewer covers across product areas may point to pressure on household budgets, changing customer needs or people reassessing the level of cover they can afford.
FSC CEO Kirk Hope pointed out that life insurance plays a major part in New Zealand’s financial safety net, saying, “It helps protect families, households and businesses when people are faced with death, serious illness, disability or loss of income. For many New Zealanders, it is one of the few financial backstops they have when something goes seriously wrong.
“But, as a sector, we need to keep working on affordability, confidence and helping more Kiwis understand the protection they can have.”
Term and accidental death cover largest areas of premium income
The report also shows the largest areas of annual premium income remain term and accidental death cover, at NZ$1.64bn. This is followed by trauma insurance at $672m, and income protection at NZ$539m.
“These products sit at the heart of the protection conversation. They are designed to help people manage some of life’s biggest financial shocks, from a serious diagnosis to an inability to work or the death of a loved one,” says Mr Hope.