Life insurance sales rose to a record in Hong Kong last year, driven by purchases from local customers, while sales from the Middle East, Southeast Asia and mainland China picked up.
According to the Insurance Authority (IA), revenue grew 15.7 percent to HK$169.6 billion ($21.7 billion) in the first nine months of 2024, up from HK$146.5 billion in the same period in 2023. Mainland customers have adopted Hong Kong coverage to protect against the depreciating value of the yuan against the U.S. dollar, pushing the city’s sales to their highest levels since the founding of the IA in 2016.
“People from all over the world, including Indonesia, the Philippines and Singapore, are buying life insurance in Hong Kong,” Marty Lui, the IA’s executive director for long-term affairs, said at a media briefing. “An increasing number of visitors from the Middle East are purchasing policies in Hong Kong.”
Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyzes and infographics, brought to you by our award-winning team.
The authority will collect more data on the purchasing behavior and policies of these visitors to help formulate measures to promote sales and protect their interests, he said.
(L-R) Ocean Chiu, deputy director of general affairs, Insurance Authority, and Marty Lui, executive director of long-term operations, Insurance Authority, during a briefing at Wong Chuk Hang’s office on January 17, 2025. Photo: Enoch Yiu . alt=(LR) Ocean Chiu, associate director, general affairs, Insurance Authority, and Marty Lui, executive director, long-term affairs, Insurance Authority, during a briefing at Wong Chuk Hang’s office on January 17, 2025. Photo: Enoch Yiu.>
“If data shows that more visitors from the Middle East are purchasing, we will have to issue educational materials in Arabic to raise awareness among customers and protect them,” Lui said. The IA will propose measures to prevent insurers from overestimating potential dividend payouts from their policies, and review the commission shared with sales agents, he added.
Revenue from mainland visitors fell 0.4 percent to HK$46.6 billion in the nine-month period from a year earlier. The data showed that mainland insurance buyers accounted for 27.6 percent of total life insurance and medical sales during this period.
“Over the past nine months, customers from 50 different markets have purchased policies from us, underscoring their confidence in our international brand, creditworthiness and quality products,” said Daisy Tsang, CEO of Hong Kong and Macau at HSBC Life.
Mainland visitors buying insurance papers from Hong Kong will be reclassified as “travellers” this year to distinguish them from buyers who are also recent immigrants from the mainland, Lui said. The reporting frequency will be changed to semi-annual reports from the current quarterly reporting, he said.
Mainland residents like to buy insurance coverage in Hong Kong because the policies are denominated in the Hong Kong dollar or U.S. currency, helping them hedge against the yuan’s 16 percent depreciation against the dollar over the past three years.
A group of Muslim tourists visit the Avenue of Stars in Tsim Sha Tsui on December 30, 2024. Photo: Jelly Tse alt=A group of Muslim tourists visit the Avenue of Stars in Tsim Sha Tsui on December 30, 2024. Photo: Jelly Tse >
HSBC Life’s business growth was mainly driven by higher sales to so-called high net worth individuals and a new multi-currency product, Tsang said.
“Hong Kong is already the largest life insurance market in the world,” Lui said. “With a population of only 7.5 million people, we need to attract foreign buyers to come and buy policies here as a way to promote the city as an international insurance center.”
In the first nine months of last year, 32.6 million tourists visited Hong Kong, a 40 percent increase from a year ago, according to data published by the Hong Kong Tourism Board. Visitors from the mainland made up 78 percent of visitors during this period.
“Hong Kong’s insurance industry momentum strengthened in the third quarter, driven by continued economic recovery, increased cross-border travel and the government’s continued initiatives to stimulate economic vitality,” said Patrick Graham, CEO of Manulife Hong Kong and Macau. “The current interest rate environment has led to increased customer demand for our innovative savings products throughout the quarter.”
The influx of visitors helped Manulife achieve double-digit percentage growth in new business value during the company’s third quarter and improve on quarterly and annual increases across all its business segments, Graham said.
“We remain optimistic about the sector’s continued growth over the medium term, supported by growing consumer awareness of health and protection needs, strong demand factors and a positive business environment,” he said.
General insurance gross sales reached HK$75 billion in the first nine months of this year, mainly driven by accident and health insurance, including medical and travel insurance.