Why LIC is losing market share to private insurers

Zindagi ke sath bhi, zindaagi ke baad bhi. The iconic tagline of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) embodies the nostalgia of pre-liberalisation India. In fact, before the 90s, life insurance in India meant LIC, as the sector was exclusive to public players. Even after the sector opened in the 90s, LIC held a near-monopoly for a decade. However, recent data suggest the PSU behemoth is losing market share to private players, such as HDFC Life , ICICI Prudential Life , and SBI Life . Market share on the basis of new premiums written Private insurers are on a steady rise while LIC's market share declines Company Nov-23 Nov-22 Nov-21 Nov-20 Nov-19 LIC 58.8 67.8 63.4 69.4 71 HDFC life 8.3 6.5 7.9 7 6.4 ICICI Prudential 4.7 4.1 4.9 3.9 4.2 SBI 10.1 7.3 8.8 7.3 6.3 Source: IRDAI In addition, the growth of private players has been profitable. Their value of new business (VNB), which gauges potential profits from new policies, has witnessed double-digit annual growth in the past five years. Furthermore, their embedded value (EV), a metric representing the present value of all expected future profits, has witnessed consistent growth in the same period. Value of new business (VNB) of private insurers Company 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019