(NAIROBI, KENYA) – Life insurance premiums rose 33.6% to KES 147.46 billion ($1.14 billion) in the six months ended June 2026, surpassing general insurance for the first time, driven by retirement savings channelled through private insurers and a surge in investment-linked products.
Data from the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) shows gross premiums under long-term insurance business rose from KES 110.39 billion ($852 million) a year earlier.
The growth lifted life insurance’s share of total industry premiums above half, to about 51%, overtaking general insurance, which recorded a slower 9.2% rise to KES 141.90 billion ($1.1 billion) from KES 129.88 billion ($1 billion).
The figures reinforced a shift in the industry’s premium mix towards long-term savings and investment products, even as general insurers continue to rely heavily on medical and motor covers.
The IRA attributed more than half of the increase in long-term premiums to two classes of business, being investments and deposit administration. The pair generated an extra KES 19.99 billion ($154 million), accounting for 54% of the KES 37.06 billion ($286 million) increase in long-term premium income.
Investment-linked business recorded the fastest growth, with premiums rising 130.7% to KES 21.95 billion ($169 million) from KES 9.51 billion ($73 million).
The investments class contributed 14.9% of long-term premiums, up from a much smaller base (8.6%) a year earlier, overtaking group life to become the third-largest contributor to long-term premiums.
The regulator attributed the increase mainly to unit trusts managed under unit-linked and linked-investment products, through which policyholders’ funds are invested in financial assets.
APA Life Assurance and Britam Life Assurance were the largest contributors to the expansion, accounting for 59.6% of the increase in investment-class premiums. APA’s premiums in the class rose by KES 3.88 billion ($30 million), while Britam recorded an increase of KES 3.41 billion ($26 million).
The performance points to the growing importance of investment-linked products in insurers’ business, combining investment exposure with insurance arrangements.
Deposit administration was the other major driver, with premiums increasing 21.1% to KES 43.31 billion ($334 million) from KES 35.75 billion ($276 million). The class remained the largest contributor to long-term business, accounting for 29.4% of premiums.
The IRA linked the continued growth in deposit administration to the contracting out of National Social Security Fund (NSSF) tier II contributions, which are partly managed by insurers through deposit administration schemes. The arrangement allows employers to redirect part of employees’ pension contributions to a Retirement Benefits Authority (RBA) approved private pension scheme instead of the NSSF. The flow of these retirement contributions has become a key source of premium growth.
Kenindia Assurance and Britam Life accounted for 99.2% of the increase in deposit administration, with their premiums rising by KES 3.95 billion ($30 million) and KES 3.54 billion ($27 million), respectively.
Under the NSSF framework, employers are allowed to channel tier II pension contributions into approved privately managed schemes rather than the NSSF managed arrangement. Other long-term insurance classes also expanded. Group life premiums rose 59.1% to KES 17.80 billion ($137 million), while annuities increased 67.2% to KES 10.33 billion ($80 million).
Personal pension business grew 19.8% to KES 14.72 billion ($114 million).
Life assurance, the traditional protection-oriented class, recorded an 18.3% growth to KES 29.27 billion ($226 million). Group credit was the only major class to contract, declining 6.1% to KES 10.07 billion ($78 million).
Over the same period, general insurance premiums grew 9.2% to KES 141.90 billion ($1.1 billion). Medical remained the largest class, accounting for 41.7% of general premiums, followed by motor private and motor commercial.
Kenya’s insurance penetration rose to an eight-year high of 2.63% last year from 2.45% the previous year, lifted by a jump in life insurance premiums that saw long-term covers overtake general insurance for the first time.
This marked the fifth consecutive annual increase and put the indicator at its highest level since 2017, when it stood at 2.68%.
The sustained growth has been supported by life cover, whose pace of growth has been above that of short-term covers over the past nine years.
Between 2016 and 2025, life insurance premiums more than tripled to KES 236.29 billion ($1.82 billion), while general insurance premiums rose 1.85 times to KES 225.38 billion ($1.74 billion).