(Westwood, Mass. � May 15, 2003) April applications for life insurance in North America declined 9.1% year-over year; the MIB Life Index’s sharpest one month decline since February 2001. U.S. activity was off 9.6%, marking the seventh consecutive month of diminished activity, with Canadian applications declining 4.9% compared to the same period last year. With April declines, Canada has given back all 2003 year-to-date gains in application volume when compared to the same period last year.
According to The MIB Life IndexSM, U.S. life insurance applications over the last twelve months in the 60+ age group have consistently outpaced the age 0-59 age group based on year-over-year comparisons. Notably, April 2003 finds both age groups in decline with the 60+ age group off 3.18%, and the 0-59 age group declining 10.22% compared to the same period last year.
“The prolonged weak economy continues to challenge the life insurance industry. Application activity is down across the board in all age groups for both the U.S. and Canada; an event not observed in the past 25 months,” states Stacy J. Gill, Vice President and Chief Knowledge Officer at the MIB Group’s e-Services Corporation.
The MIB Life Index
The MIB Life Index is released in summary form to the media each month, providing the earliest snapshot of the industry free of charge. 2002 year-end results are published in MIB’s Life Index Annual Report. Based on the MIB Life Index, an MIB Trend Tracker report can, within days of month-end close, evaluate a company’s own life insurance application production benchmarked against a custom competitive peer group and the life industry as a whole.
| Monthly Percent Change vs 2002 | |||
| US | Canada | Total | |
| April 2003 | -9.6% | -4.9% | -9.1% |
| March 2003 | -3.8% | 5.6% | -2.9% |
| YTD 2003 vs YTD 2002 Q1 2003 vs Q1 2002 |
-7.1% | -0.5% | -6.4% |
| Monthly Percent Change vs Previous Month | |||
| US | Canada | Total | |
| April 2003 | -6.3% | 1.5% | -5.8% |
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
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