Hong Kong’s insurance industry recorded total gross premiums of HK$635.2 billion in 2024, with long-term business accounting for most of the activity and provisional data for the first half of 2025 (H1 2025) showing higher premium volumes, according to the Insurance Authority (IA).
The IA released the full-year 2024 statistics on Dec. 5, based on regulatory returns from authorised insurers, and separately issued provisional market data for the first half of 2025 on Oct. 24. The figures set out updated data on the city’s life, health, retirement, and general insurance portfolios for insurers and reinsurers across Asia.
In 2024, long-term insurance business generated HK$537.4 billion in revenue and office premiums, compared with HK$474.8 billion in 2023. General insurance gross premiums were HK$97.8 billion, slightly lower than HK$98.4 billion a year earlier.
Within long-term in-force business, individual life remained the dominant line. Non‑linked individual life policies produced revenue premiums of HK$435.1 billion, while linked individual life products contributed HK$24 billion. Including annuity and retirement scheme contracts, total in-force long-term premiums reached HK$537.4 billion across 16 million policies.
Insurance density for long-term business in 2024 stood at HK$71,422 per capita, with general business at HK$12,997. Long-term insurance penetration – premiums as a share of gross domestic product (GDP) – was 16.9%, while general business penetration was 3.1%.
Hong Kong’s GDP at current market prices reached HK$3.18 trillion in 2024, up from HK$2.98 trillion in 2023. Mid-year population declined slightly, from 7.54 million to 7.52 million, with higher per capita GDP and per capita premium levels.
The IA emphasized that the implementation of the new risk-based capital (RBC) regime on July 1, 2024, has altered how insurers report both long term and general business. For long-term in-force business, 2023 figures are reported on an office premium basis and aligned to insurers’ financial years, while 2024 figures use revenue premiums on a calendar-year basis. Because of that shift, the IA said “it is therefore inappropriate to make a direct comparison between the latest figures and those in the prior year” for certain long-term metrics.
In general insurance, updated regulatory returns introduced under the RBC framework revise line-of-business definitions and add an offshore component to the Hong Kong summary. Some insurers with financial year-ends on or before June 30, 2024, were not yet required to submit the new returns and are excluded from the 2024 general business summary, with their information instead captured in supplementary statistics compiled under the previous regime.
To align methodologies, non‑Hong Kong general business data were also incorporated into the 2023 baseline used in the IA’s 2024 summary. The authority described these prior-year data as unaudited and noted that it “disclaims any warranties or representations of any kind with regard to such information,” again indicating that direct year-on-year comparison should be treated with caution.
For the first half of 2025, provisional data show higher new business volumes in the long-term segment, a development relevant to regional life and health firms active in Hong Kong. New office premiums for long-term business, excluding retirement scheme business, reached HK$173.7 billion in the first six months of 2025, a 50% increase from the same period in 2024. Non‑linked individual business accounted for HK$166.6 billion of that total, including HK$149.9 billion from participating policies and HK$16.7 billion from other non‑linked contracts.
Linked individual business premiums were HK$6.9 billion, 60.8% higher than a year earlier. Around 44,000 qualifying deferred annuity policies were issued in the period, producing HK$2.8 billion in premiums and representing 1.6% of total individual new business.
Revenue premiums from in-force long-term policies in the first half of 2025 amounted to HK$365 billion, up 33.7% year on year. Non‑linked individual business contributed HK$321.8 billion, linked individual business HK$12.7 billion, and retirement scheme business HK$26.7 billion.
Claims and benefits paid on long-term business reached HK$191.9 billion, including HK$99.1 billion in lapsation and surrender payments and HK$92.8 billion in other claims and benefits.
