Vietnam Life Insurance Crisis Of Faith

The number of active life insurance contracts in Vietnam was 13.35 million by the end of June, declining by 550,000 since the beginning of the year. This was the first drop the industry has recorded since 2014. In the last five years growth averaged 12.6% annually, according to data from the Insurance Association of Vietnam.

Crisis Of Faith - The decrease came as Vietnam’s life insurance industry goes through its biggest ever "crisis of faith" after customers claim they had been tricked into buying insurance contracts when they only wanted to make deposits at banks.

The number of new contracts signed in the first six months plunged 31% year-on-year to nearly 1.03 million. Revenues from insurance premiums dropped nearly 8% year-on-year to VND77.83 trillion (US$3.27 billion)

Prudential led in terms of new premiums in the first six months at VND2.74 trillion, followed by Dai-ichi Life (VND2.05 trillion) and Manulife (VND1.98 trillion). In terms of accumulated premiums, Baoviet Life Corporation led with a 20.6% market share, followed by Manulife (17.2%) and Prudential (16.5%).

Insurance companies paid around VND25.85 trillion in proceeds in the first six months, up 37% year-on-year.