The Thai Life Assurance Association expects the sector to continue growing by 3-5% this year, with total premiums received of 648-650 billion baht, driven by domestic consumption, public investment in megaprojects and private investment.
President Nusara Assakul Banyatpiyaphod said life assurance's continuous growth is further supported by the strong tourism sector, an increase in agriculture prices and improved farm income, which are expected to stimulate private consumption.
"The [insurance] regulator also supports greater liberalisation in business competition by revising the life assurance law for practicality of current business conditions, relaxing investment rules for insurance companies, supporting businesses to request automatic approval, tax perks and helping to educate people," Mrs Nusara said.
Single-premium and unit-linked insurance products will remain popular, she said. People have a better understanding of the life insurance business, prompting them to seek protection and new investment products for higher return, Mrs Nusara said.
But the insurance industry still faces several challenges this year, including the risk of lower exports from the Sino-US trade dispute, the strengthening baht, pressure from the International Financial Reporting Standard 9, and the data privacy law coming from the EU's general data protection regulation, which took effect in May 2018.
Regulations from the newly drafted life assurance law on market conduct could also affect bancassurance sales, Mrs Nusara said.
In 2018, life assurance businesses reported total premiums received of 627.38 billion baht, up 4.3% year-on-year. These included new business premiums worth 180.42 billion baht, up 7.5%, and renewal premiums worth 446.97 billion baht, up 3%.
The insurance penetration rate stood at 3.9%, unchanged, while insurance density was 9,447 baht per person, up 3.9% year-on-year.
Insurance agents were identified as the main distribution channel at 48.7% of total sales, followed by bancassurance (44.7%), direct sales (2.3%) and other (4.3%).
