Life insurance sales soared to a record in Hong Kong last year, driven by buying from local customers, as business from the Middle East, Southeast Asia and mainland China picked up.
Sales grew 15.7 per cent in the first nine months of 2024 to HK$169.6 billion (US$21.7 billion), from HK$146.5 billion in the same period in 2023, according to the Insurance Authority (IA). Mainland customers snapped up Hong Kong’s coverage as hedges against the yuan’s depreciating value against the US dollar, helping to spur the city’s sales to the highest level since the IA’s establishment in 2016.
“People from around the world, including Indonesia, the Philippines and Singapore, are buying life policies in Hong Kong,” the IA’s executive director of long-term business Marty Lui said during a media briefing. “An increasing number of Middle East visitors are buying policies in Hong Kong.”
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The authority will collect more data on the buying habits and policy types of these visitors to help formulate measures to promote sales, as well as for protecting their interests, he said.
(L-R) Ocean Chiu, associate director, general business of Insurance Authority, and Marty Lui, executive director, of long term business, Insurance Authority, during a briefing at the office at Wong Chuk Hang on January 17, 2025. Photo: Enoch Yiu. alt=(L-R) Ocean Chiu, associate director, general business of Insurance Authority, and Marty Lui, executive director, of long term business, Insurance Authority, during a briefing at the office at Wong Chuk Hang on January 17, 2025. Photo: Enoch Yiu.>
“If data shows more Middle East visitors buying, we will need 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 overstating the potential dividend payouts from their policies, and review the commission shared with sales agents, he added.
Sales to mainland visitors dipped by 0.4 per cent to HK$46.6 billion during the nine-month period, compared with a year earlier. Mainland insurance buyers made up 27.6 per cent of the total life and medical sales during the period, the data showed.
“Over the past nine months, customers from 50 different markets bought policies from us, underscoring their trust in our international brand, credit rating and quality products,” said Daisy Tsang, the Hong Kong and Macau CEO at HSBC Life.
Mainland visitors who buy Hong Kong insurance papers 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 half-yearly reports from the current quarterly submission, he said.
Mainlanders like to buy insurance coverage in Hong Kong because the policies are denominated in either the Hong Kong dollar or the US currency, which help them hedge against the yuan’s 16 per cent depreciation against the dollar in the past three years.
A group of Muslim tourists visit at the Avenue of Stars in Tsim Sha Tsui on 30 December 2024. Photo: Jelly Tse alt=A group of Muslim tourists visit at the Avenue of Stars in Tsim Sha Tsui on 30 December 2024. Photo: Jelly Tse>
HSBC Life’s business growth was mostly driven by increased sales to the so-called high-net-worth individuals, and a new multicurrency product, Tsang said.
“Hong Kong is already the world’s largest life insurance market,” Lui said. “With a population of only 7.5 million people, we need to attract overseas buyers to come to buy policies here as the way forward to promote the city as an international insurance centre.”
In the first nine months of last year, 32.6 million tourists visited Hong Kong, up by 40 per cent from a year ago, according to data published by the Hong Kong Tourism Board. Mainland visitors made up 78 per cent of the visitors during the period.
“Hong Kong’s insurance industry momentum strengthened in the third quarter, driven by sustained economic recovery, increased cross-border travel, and the government’s ongoing initiatives to boost economic vitality,” said Patrick Graham, CEO of Manulife Hong Kong and Macau. “The current interest rate environment has spurred increased customer demand for our innovative savings products throughout the quarter.”
The influx of visitors helped Manulife achieve a double-digit percentage increase in new business value during the company’s third quarter, as well as notch up quarterly and annual increases in all of its business segments, Graham said.
“We remain optimistic about the industry’s continued growth in the medium term, supported by consumers’ growing awareness of health and protection needs, strong demand drivers and a positive business environment,” he said.
Gross sales of general insurance in the first nine months of this year stood at HK$75 billion, driven mainly by accident and health business, which includes medical and travel insurance.
