Even though the number of people covered by new policies fell in the third quarter, the rate of decrease looks better than it did in the second quarter: In the second quarter, the number of new policies sold dropped 5%, year-over year.
The LIMRA Individual Life Issuer Survey
The new report draws on results from a voluntary life insurance company survey. The sample includes issuers that generate about 80% of U.S. individual life sales, according to LIMRA.
The summary available to the general public does not provide the data on the actual policy counts or premium totals.
Product Breakdown
The LIMRA sales summary includes results for term life, universal life, variable universal life and whole life.
Here's what happened to annualized premiums from the policies sold in the third quarter, broken down by product type, when compared with annualized premiums for the third quarter of 2018:
- Term Life: +3%
- Universal Life: +2%
- Variable Universal Life: Between +2%
- Whole Life: Flat
LIMRA also provided limited information about sales of indexed universal life (IUL) policies that are filed as fixed-rate life products. New IUL annualized premiums fell 7%, year-over-year.
Resources
A link to the new LIMRA survey summary table is available here.
(Credit: Allison Bell/ALM) 
