Leading life insurance groups in Japan FY 2020, by total assets

In fiscal year 2020, Nippon Life Group was the leading life insurance group in Japan, with total assets amounting to almost 85.6 trillion Japanese yen. Dai-ichi Life Holdings followed with total assets of 63.6 trillion yen.

Leading life insurance group in Japan

Nippon Life Insurance Company, also known under the name Nissay, is a mutual insurance company that was founded in 1889. It is one of the leading life insurers in Japan in terms of premium income and has several Japanese and overseas subsidiaries under its umbrella that primarily engage in the insurance and asset management business.
Modern insurance practices in Japan developed under the influence of the Meiji Restauration of 1868 that was followed by a period of modernization and industrialization. Japan’s first insurance company Tokio Marine was established in 1879, followed by the first life insurance company, Meiji Yasuda, founded in 1881.

One of the largest insurance markets worldwide

While threatened by the demographic shift and an aging and shrinking population, Japan boasts one of the largest insurance markets, next to the United States and China. Major Japanese insurers are also among the key players worldwide. Japan Post Holdings and Nippon Life were among the ten leading global insurance companies by revenue in 2020. Looking for business expansion and diversification, Japanese insurers have increasingly engaged in cross-border M&A in recent years. One of the largest outbound acquisitions by Japanese insurance companies was the acquisition of HCC by Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire.