Q4 U.S. Applications Decline, Canadian Activity on the Rise
(Westwood, Mass. — January 14, 2003) North American life insurance application activity declined for the third consecutive month in December posting a 1.8% decrease compared to 2001 levels. Regional results were mixed; U.S. applications decreased 2.4% last month while Canada showed a marked increase of 4.5% year over year. For the fourth quarter, U.S. applications were off by 4.2% with increases in Canada of 2.8% compared to Q4 2001. For 2002, declining U.S. activity negatively impacted North American results in six of the last 12 months.
December’s decline in U.S. application activity was attributable to a 4.6% downturn in the 0-44 age group. While not strong enough to offset overall results, age group 60+ weighed in with a 9.5% increase over December 2001, according to The MIB Life Index(SM). Notably, Canada’s December activity was at its highest level observed for a December since 1998.
“Growth in the U.S. market remained elusive in 2002,” states Stacy J. Gill, Vice President and Chief Knowledge Officer at the MIB Group’s e-Services Corporation. “While encouraging signs can be seen in older-age markets, they account for less than 10% of the activity measured by the Life Index,” states Gill.
The MIB Life Index
The MIB Life IndexSM. is released in summary form to the media each month, providing a monthly snapshot free of charge to the industry.
| Monthly Percent Change vs 2001 | |||
| US | Canada | Total | |
| December 2002 | -2.4% | 4.5% | -1.8% |
| November 2002 | -7.8% | -0.6% | -6.9% |
| Nov – Dec 2002 | -5.2% | 1.6% | -4.4% |
| Monthly Percent Change vs Previous Month | |||
| US | Canada | Total | |
| December 2002 | 0.8% | -17.9% | -1.5% |
About MIB Group, Inc.
MIB Group, Inc., headquartered in Westwood, Massachusetts, is the leading provider of database and information management tools to the global risk management community, and is a leading facilitator of electronic insurance commerce via dedicated networks and Internet-based systems. MIB member companies underwrite more than 95 percent of the premium dollars of individual life insurance written in the United States and Canada. More information about MIB Group, Inc. is available at www.mib.com.
