Leading life insurance companies in Japan 2016, based on gross premiums written

Nippon Life led the ranking of life insurance companies in Japan in 2016, with gross premiums written amounting to more than 46 billion U.S. dollars. Japan Post followed with approximately 42.7 billion dollars in the same year.

The size of the market

Japan's insurance market is one of the largest in the world. After a steady growth in recent years, the annualized premium of individual life insurance policies in force reached a value of about 28.6 trillion Japanese yen in fiscal year 2018. A comparison of direct premiums written showed that life insurances made up about three quarters of the total domestic insurance market in 2019.

Diversification of the life insurance market

Customers’ life insurance needs have diversified in recent years: changes in the household composition due to the aging society, a low birthrate and late marriages decreased the need for large death benefits aimed at household heads, resulting in a shift among consumers away from death protection and towards life protection products. Accordingly, the demand for third sector insurance, such as medical and nursing care products, has been growing.