This report provides a comprehensive summary of the "Summary on January – March 2026 Provisional Statistics" for Hong Kong’s insurance industry, as released by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) / Insurance Authority.
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1. Document Overview
The document serves as a statistical disclosure summarizing the performance of the Hong Kong insurance market for the first quarter (Q1) of 2026. It covers both Long Term Business (Life/Investment-linked) and General Business (Non-life/Property/Casualty). The purpose is to provide transparency on market trends, premium growth, underwriting results, and the overall asset/liability position of authorized insurers operating in Hong Kong.
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2. Main Content
A. Long Term Business (New Business)
- Total Office Premiums: Recorded $141,131 million for Q1 2026, representing a significant year-on-year (YoY) increase of 51.1% compared to $93,413 million in Q1 2025.
- Segment Breakdown:
- Non-Linked Long Term Individual Business: Remained the dominant segment at $135,324 million (+50.2% YoY). Within this, Participating Business reached $125,650 million (+53.7%).
- Linked Long Term (Class C): Grew robustly to $5,717 million (+77.2%).
- Non-Retirement Scheme Group Business: Remained relatively flat at $90 million (-9.1%).
B. Long Term Business (Inforce & Termination)
- Policy Statistics: As of March 31, 2026, the total number of policies/schemes for Non-Linked Long Term Individual business reached 15,083,016, up 3.0% from the previous year.
- Benefit Payments: Total benefit payments for Q1 2026 amounted to $92,342 million, a marginal decrease of 2.1% compared to $94,324 million in Q1 2025.
- Reinsurance: The total premium receivable under reinsurance assumed was $5,113 million, while premium payable under reinsurance ceded was $33,216 million.
C. General Business
- Financial Performance:
- Gross Premium Written: $35,162 million (+12.54% YoY).
- Net Premium Written: $23,057 million (+11.99% YoY).
- Undiscounted Underwriting Results: A profit of $2,592 million, a substantial recovery from the $882 million profit in Q1 2025 (+193.7%).
- Operating Results: $4,147 million profit (+56.06% YoY).
- Class Performance: The Pecuniary Loss segment saw a massive surge in underwriting profit to $1,627 million (vs. $379 million in 2025), while Property Damage also performed well with $374 million in profit.
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3. Key Changes and Performance Highlights
- Strong Growth in New Business: The 51.1% increase in Long Term new business premiums indicates a strong recovery and expansion in the life insurance sector.
- Rebound in General Underwriting: General business saw a 193.7% increase in undiscounted underwriting profit, driven largely by improvements in the Accident & Health and Pecuniary Loss categories.
- Segment Shifts: While most segments saw growth, Employees' Compensation saw a decrease in gross premiums (-14.42%).
- Geographic Split: Offshore business for General Insurance grew significantly in terms of reinsurance inward premiums (+21.64%), contributing to a total offshore profit of $336 million.
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4. Important Dates
- Reporting Period: January 1, 2026, to March 31, 2026 (Q1 2026).
- Comparison Period: January 1, 2025, to March 31, 2025 (Q1 2025).
- Snapshot Dates (Assets/Liabilities): March 2026, December 2025, and September 2025.
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5. Impact Scope
- Applicability: These statistics cover all authorized insurers under the jurisdiction of the Insurance Authority (IA) / HKMA regulatory framework.
- Affected Institutions: All long-term and general insurers operating in Hong Kong.
- Impact Level: High. The data reflects a positive trend in market liquidity and premium collection, suggesting improved consumer demand and strong underwriting discipline across major insurance classes.
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6. Compliance and Technical Details
- Terminology:
- Participating Business: A class of long-term business where policyholders share in the profits of the insurer.
- Class C (Linked Long Term): Policies where the value is determined by the performance of underlying investment assets.
- Undiscounted Underwriting Results: The profit/loss from insurance operations before accounting for the time value of money (discounting).
- Reporting Standards: Figures are presented in millions ($m) HKD.
- Key Metrics:
- Gross Premium Written (GPW): Total premiums before deductions for reinsurance.
- Net Premium Written (NPW): GPW minus premiums ceded to reinsurers.
- Total Assets (General Business): As of March 2026, stood at $351,932 million, reflecting an increase from $337,877 million in December 2025.
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7. Summary of Appendices/Tables
- Table 1 (Long Term New Business): Clearly shows a transition from single premium dominant structures to non-single premium dominance in non-linked individual business.
- Table 2 (Terminations): Shows a 3.7% decrease in total policy terminations, suggesting higher customer retention/policy persistency.
- Table 3 (Assets & Liabilities): Highlights that the General Insurance sector's net assets grew to $137,746 million by March 2026, demonstrating balance sheet resilience.
*Disclaimer: This summary is based on the provided provisional statistics. For official regulatory filings or legal compliance, please refer to the original HKMA/Insurance Authority official publications.*