Life Insurance Company Statistics & Data

Life insurance company data gives critical insight into the ever-changing nature of the life insurance industry.

With nearly 800 life insurance companies in the United States alone, there’s a lot to unpack.

The data below breaks down the nation’s leading life insurance companies in terms of market share, size, structure, and customer experience.

Industry Total of Direct Written Premiums

Company Name	Direct Premiums	Market Share (%)	Competitor Gap
Northwestern Mut Grp	$11,278,801,822	6.48%
New York Life Grp	$11,053,776,227	6.35%	-0.13%
Metropolitan Grp	$10,767,180,668	6.19%	-0.16%
Lincoln Natl Grp	$9,651,117,072	5.54%	-0.65%
Prudential of Amer Grp	$9,642,360,389	5.54%	-0.00%
Mass Mut Life Ins Grp	$7,984,470,423	4.59%	-0.95%
Aegon US Holding Grp	$4,868,457,551	2.80%	-1.79%
John Hancock Grp	$4,817,849,577	2.77%	-0.03%
State Farm Grp	$4,797,872,970	2.76%	-0.01%
Minnesota Mut Grp	$4,724,702,591	2.71%	-0.05%
Guardian Life Grp	$4,172,505,702	2.40%	-0.31%
Pacific Life Grp	$3,874,562,954	2.23%	-0.17%
American Intl Grp	$3,535,531,563	2.03%	-0.20%
Nationwide Corp Grp	$3,331,942,644	1.91%	-0.12%
Equitable Holdings Inc Grp	$3,099,092,783	1.78%	-0.13%
Voya Financial Grp	$2,646,846,575	1.52%	-0.26%
Mutual of Omaha Grp	$2,502,613,964	1.44%	-0.08%
Globe Life Inc Grp	$2,477,964,583	1.42%	-0.02%
Primerica Grp	$2,456,562,333	1.41%	-0.01%
Dai-Ichi Life Holdings Inc Grp	$2,450,639,110	1.41%	-0.00%
Unum Grp	$2,403,439,950	1.38%	-0.03%
Brighthouse Holdings Grp	$2,385,778,456	1.37%	-0.01%
Principal Grp	$2,236,083,923	1.28%	-0.09%
Sammons Enterprises Grp	$2,189,822,354	1.26%	-0.02%
Penn Mut Grp	$2,012,621,117	1.16%	-0.10%
Total	$174,072,717,982	64.19%

Table amounts in $thousands.

$174,072,717,982

Based on an industry total of direct written premiums equaling $174,072,717,982, the top 25 life insurance companies wrote nearly 2/3rds of all premiums, with the top 12 insurers writing more than 50%.

Top Companies by Direct Premiums Written for Life & Annuities

The ranking changes when different policy types are isolated. According to NAIC data, here are the top 10 companies based on life and annuity premiums.

Company	Direct premiums	Market Share (%)	Competitor gap
MetLife Inc.	$95,079,321	13.00%
Prudential	$56,206,131	7.70%	5.30%
Equitable Holdings	$44,721,302	6.10%	1.60%
New York Life	$33,425,321	4.60%	1.50%
Massachusetts Mutual	$30,375,127	4.20%	0.40%
Lincoln National	$28,471,688	3.90%	0.30%
Principal	$27,038,400	3.70%	0.20%
AIG	$25,684,294	3.50%	0.20%
Jackson National	$23,056,675	3.20%	0.30%
Transamerica	$22,360,111	3.10%	0.10%

Table amounts in $thousands. 2019 year.

53%

In 2019, the top 10 life insurance companies wrote 53% of all direct premiums for life insurance and annuities.

Top Companies by Direct Premiums Written for Individual Life

The amount of direct premiums written and the corresponding market share changes yet again when only individual life insurance is considered.

Company	direct premiums	market Share (%)	Competitor Gap
Northwestern Mutual	$11,271,640	8.40%
Lincoln National	$8,255,755	6.20%	2.20%
New York Life	$8,009,957	6.00%	0.20%
Massachusetts Mutual	$7,882,498	5.90%	0.10%
Prudential	$6,212,700	4.60%	1.30%
John Hancock	$4,812,785	3.90%	0.70%
State Farm	$4,748,696	3.50%	0.40%
Transamerica	$4,570,238	3.40%	0.10%
Pacific Life	$3,874,563	2.90%	0.50%
AIG	$3,571,493	2.70%	0.20%

Table amounts in $thousands. 2019 year.

1/2

The top 10 companies wrote nearly half of direct premiums for individual life insurance, with the top 5 companies writing close to 1/3 of them.

Top Companies by Direct Premiums Written for Group Life

company	direct premiums	market share (%)	competitor gap
MetLife Inc.	$7,328,698	20.80%
Prudential	$3,429,660	9.70%	11.10%
New York Life	$3,043,820	8.70%	1.00%
Securian	$2,543,280	7.20%	1.50%
Cigna Corp.	$1,767,992	5.00%	2.20%
Unum Group	$1,713,032	4.90%	0.10%
Hartford	$1,504,115	4.30%	0.06%
Lincoln National	$1,395,326	4.00%	0.30%
Nationwide	$1,036,250	2.90%	1.10%
Standard Life	$985,585	2.80%	0.10%

Table amounts in $thousands. 2019 year.

11%

MetLife dominates the group life insurance industry, with 1/5 of the market share and an 11.1% gap to its nearest competitor, Prudential.

Top Life Insurance Companies by Assets

The table below highlights the top 25 life insurance companies based on their assets.

Company	Assets
Prudential	$577,911,428
MetLife Inc.	$409,620,949
New York Life	$324,780,964
TIAA-CREF	$316,037,954
AIG	$284,995,635
Northwestern Mutual	$272,266,151
Lincoln Financial	$255,642,921
Massachusetts Mutual	$254,871,959
Manulife Financial	$247,572,347
Jackson National	$236,988,672
Transamerica	$201,204,255
AXA Financial	$194,993,598
Voya Financial	$189,367,712
Principal	$185,009,858
Brighthouse Holdings Grp.	$179,295,297
Nationwide	$170,472,992
Allianz	$145,153,116
Pacific Life	$135,579,228
Hopmeadow Holdings Grp.	$117,913,970
Ameriprise Financial	$104,112,139
Thrivant Financial for Lutherans	$94,229,633
Sammons Financial Grp.	$85,245,189
Athene Grp.	$83,783,502
State Farm	$78,026,036
Guardian	$75,591,936

Table amounts in $thousands. 2019 year.

Historical Number of Life Insurance Companies in the U.S.

Another important framework for analyzing life insurance companies is a historical one.

According to the American Council of Life Insurers, here’s how the number of life insurers in the United States has fluctuated over the last 70 years.

year	Number of companies
1950	649
1960	1,441
1970	1,780
1980	1,950
1990	2,195
2000	1,269
2010	917
2018	773

3x

The number of life insurance companies nationwide peaked in 1990, with more than three times the number of companies in existence in 1950, continually declining in the decades since.

773

Between the 50 states, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, there are 773 U.S. life insurance companies.

Organizational Structure of U.S. Life Insurance Companies

The ACLI breaks down the number of life insurance companies further, looking at their organizational structure.

• Stock: 580
• Mutual: 109
• Fraternal: 75
• Other: 9

75%

Stock companies made up 75% of the 773 U.S. life insurance companies in 2018, followed by mutual, fraternal, and other types of companies, respectively.

Largest Life Insurance Companies Globally

What about life insurance companies outside the United States?

According to the Forbes’ Global 2000 ranking, the following life insurance companies top the list based on market capitalization:

Company	Market value
United Health Group	$277.1 billion
Ping An Insurance Group	$187.2 billion
AIA Group	$111.8 billion
China Life Insurance	$60.3 billion
Prudential	$36.9 billion
MetLife	$32.8 billion
Japan Post Holdings	$32.7 billion
China Pacific Insurance	$30.0 billion
Aflac	$26.9 billion
Manulife	$24.5 billion
Cathay Financial	$17.7 billion
Legal & General Group	$15.3 billion
Dai-ichi Life Insurance	$14.4 billion
Aviva	$12 billion
Swiss Life Holding	$11.3 billion

J.D. Power Ratings for Individual Life Insurance from 2015-2020

It’s also helpful to view life insurance companies through the lens of customer experience.

The most accurate indicator of customer experience is the annual J.D. Power Survey of individual life insurance companies.

Below is an overview of the overall customer satisfaction ratings for the top life insurance companies over the last 6 years, based on a 1,000 point scale.

Company	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020
AIG	748	738	751	741	722	742
Allstate	801	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Ameriprise	N/A	N/A	790	N/A	N/A	N/A
AXA Financial	748	752	771	755	730	N/A
Brighthouse Financial	N/A	N/A	N/A	752	729	717
Equitable	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	733
Genworth Financial	747	766	771	744	N/A	N/A
Globe Life	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	810
Guardian Life	788	760	796	776	770	743
John Hancock	732	739	763	759	739	737
Liberty Mutual	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	788	N/A
Lincoln Financial	738	744	781	778	750	749
MassMutual	753	780	787	781	751	769
MetLife	769	779	812	793	744	773
Midland National Life	N/A	713	745	758	723	725
Minnesota Life	N/A	N/A	777	739	N/A	N/A
Mutual of Omaha	791	766	789	792	795	789
Nationwide	801	806	806	810	783	803
New York Life	791	774	782	791	770	784
Northwestern Mutual	820	799	802	812	810	790
Pacific Life	N/A	790	808	783	765	776
Penn Mutual	N/A	N/A	788	N/A	733	N/A
Primerica	723	717	754	743	741	732
Principal Financial	769	774	785	773	789	772
Protective Life	765	742	774	791	754	754
Prudential	755	770	777	784	754	759
Securian	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	739	741
State Farm	823	828	853	825	808	838
Transamerica	748	719	780	751	732	734
Voya Financial	749	745	748	744	744	725
Industry Average	770	771	785	779	761	763

State Farm has the most wins and highest average score, taking home the highest ranking 5 out of the last 6 years.

Of the 30 companies evaluated in the past 6 surveys, the following 17 were consecutively ranked each year:

• AIG
• Guardian
• John Hancock
• Lincoln Financial
• MassMutual
• MetLife
• Mutual of Omaha
• Nationwide
• New York Life
• Northwestern Mutual
• Primerica
• Principal
• Protective
• Prudential
• State Farm
• Transamerica
• Voya Financial

For more industry-wide data, view our life insurance statistics page.