More people bought life insurance in the second quarter of 2026 than a year earlier, and most of the growth came from the simplest product on the shelf.
LIMRA's preliminary U.S. Life Insurance Sales Survey puts total individual life premium at $4.7 billion for the quarter, up 3% from the second quarter of 2025. The number of policies sold rose 8%. When policy count grows faster than premium, it means more families are buying smaller policies.
Whole life did the heavy lifting
Whole life brought in $1.78 billion in new premium, up 9%, and it was the largest single contributor to the quarter's growth. It now makes up 37% of the market. Whole life also sold the most new policies of any product line, with policy count up 11%.
LIMRA's head of research pointed to the final expense market as the place where that growth is concentrated, helped by newer products and easier digital buying.
The rest of the board
- Term: up 7% to $829 million, about 18% of the market.
- Variable universal life: up 11% to $800 million, the fastest growth rate of any line.
- Fixed universal life: flat at about $240 million, after sliding since late 2024.
- Indexed universal life: down 11% to just under $1.1 billion, its first decline since 2023. We cover that in a separate post.
One note on the numbers
Starting in the first quarter of 2026, LIMRA changed how it measures premium. The new measure counts all planned recurring premium plus 10% of single and excess premium. Keep that in mind before comparing 2026 figures with older reports.
What this means if you sell
- Final expense demand is real. Policy count growing faster than premium is the signature of a small-face-amount market that is expanding.
- Volume matters more than ticket size. In a market driven by smaller policies, the agents who win are the ones who reach more people and follow up consistently.
- The backdrop is still cautious. LIMRA forecast overall premium growth of 2% to 6% for 2026, after a record $17.5 billion in 2025. A 3% quarter sits inside that range.
Third-quarter results usually arrive in November. We'll cover them when they do.