Life insurance premiums rose 33.6 per cent to KSh147.46 billion in the six months ended June 2026, moving the segment ahead of general insurance in total industry premium share.
The Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) reports that gross premiums under long-term insurance increased from KSh110.39 billion a year earlier, lifting life insurance’s share of total premiums to roughly 51 per cent.
General insurance premiums grew 9.2 per cent to KSh141.90 billion from KSh129.88 billion, with medical cover remaining the largest class at 41.7 per cent of the general-insurance pool.
The regulator attributes more than half of the rise in long-term premiums to investment-linked business and deposit-administration schemes, which together added KSh19.99 billion, representing 54 per cent of the KSh37.06 billion increase.
Investment-linked premiums surged 130.7 per cent to KSh21.95 billion from KSh9.51 billion, expanding the investment class to 14.9 per cent of long-term premiums, up from 8.6 per cent a year earlier and overtaking group life as the third-largest contributor.
APA Life Assurance and Britam Life Assurance together accounted for 59.6 per cent of the growth in the investment class, with APA’s premiums rising by KSh3.88 billion and Britam’s by KSh3.41 billion.
Premiums from deposit-administration rose 21.1 per cent to KSh43.31 billion from KSh35.75 billion, keeping the class as the biggest source of long-term premiums at 29.4 per cent.
The IRA links the continued expansion of deposit-administration to the outsourcing of National Social Security Fund (NSSF) tier-II contributions, allowing employers to channel part of employees’ pension contributions into approved private schemes rather than the NSSF.
Kenindia Assurance and Britam Life together generated 99.2 per cent of the increase in deposit-administration premiums, with their contributions rising by KSh3.95 billion and KSh3.54 billion respectively.
Other long-term classes also expanded: group life premiums grew 59.1 per cent to KSh17.80 billion, annuities rose 67.2 per cent to KSh10.33 billion, personal pensions increased 19.8 per cent to KSh14.72 billion and life assurance climbed 18.3 per cent to KSh29.27 billion, while group credit fell 6.1 per cent to KSh10.07 billion.
Kenya’s insurance penetration rose to 2.63 per cent last year from 2.45 per cent the previous year, driven by the surge in life premiums that saw long-term covers overtake general insurance for the first time; this marks the fifth consecutive annual rise and the highest level since 2017 when it stood at 2.68 per cent.
Between 2016 and 2025, life insurance premiums more than tripled to KSh236.29 billion, whereas general insurance premiums increased 1.85 times to KSh225.38 billion.
