The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has released insurance industry claims data for the first time, showing that insurance companies in Pakistan paid more than 1 million claims worth Rs542 billion during 2025. The data provides a detailed view of claims settlement across the life and non-life insurance sectors, covering areas including death, health, accident, motor, fire and property-related claims. Life insurance companies paid claims amounting to Rs410 billion, while non-life insurers paid claims worth Rs132 billion.
The SECP data shows that life insurers paid more than 33,000 death-related claims during the year, while non-life insurance companies settled more than 720,000 health and accident claims. Motor insurance accounted for more than 282,000 paid claims, while approximately 11,000 claims related to fire and property were settled. SECP Chairman Dr. Kabir Ahmed Sidhu said the publication of claims data would strengthen accountability in the insurance sector, adding that effective claims settlement is important for maintaining policyholders’ confidence in insurance companies.
The broader insurance industry recorded growth during 2025, with total premiums increasing 15% to Rs778 billion. Industry assets reached Rs4.1 trillion, compared with Rs3.738 trillion in 2024, representing an increase of more than 9%. Insurance penetration stood at 0.7%, while insurance density was recorded at Rs3,361. Conventional insurers accounted for 84% of total premiums, while the takaful sector contributed the remaining 16%. Takaful contributions increased 27% to Rs123 billion from Rs97 billion in 2024, indicating continued expansion of Shariah-compliant insurance products.
Digital distribution also recorded significant growth during the year. Premium generated through digital distribution channels increased 71%, rising from Rs4 billion in 2024 to Rs6.8 billion in 2025. Despite the strong annual increase, digital distribution still represented 0.85% of total industry premium. The insurance industry also contributed Rs83.61 billion to the national economy during the year through various taxes and other payments, including Rs48.25 billion in income tax, Rs21.63 billion in sales tax, Rs6.88 billion in federal excise duty, Rs3.94 billion in stamp duty and Rs2.92 billion through other contributions.
The sector employed 20,159 people directly during 2025 and engaged 235,197 sales agents. Within life insurance, premiums increased 14% to Rs495 billion from Rs434 billion in 2024, while gross claims increased to Rs410 billion from Rs380 billion. The number of life insurance policies stood at 7.6 million, compared with 7.9 million a year earlier, while life insurance penetration was recorded at 0.43%. Public sector insurers accounted for 61% of life insurance premiums, while private insurers represented 39%. Among public sector insurers, 98% of premiums were generated through agency channels, while bancassurance accounted for 45% of private-sector premium.
Punjab remained the largest market for individual life insurance, contributing 59% of gross premium, equivalent to Rs195.9 billion. Sindh followed with a 25% share worth Rs83.1 billion, while Khyber Pakhtunkhwa contributed 6%, or Rs20.5 billion. Approximately 1 million new life insurance policies were issued during 2025. By policy count, 47% of new policies fell within the Rs0 to Rs25,000 premium band, while policies valued at Rs1 million or more accounted for 33% of new business premium.
The claims data also provides a detailed picture of outstanding individual life claims. During the year, 712,838 individual life claims were outstanding, including newly reported claims, of which 464,895 were settled. The settled claims included 33,317 death claims, 893 other-than-death claims, 311,143 surrender claims and 119,542 maturity claims. The figures demonstrate the scale of claims processing undertaken by life insurers during the year across different categories of policy benefits.
The non-life insurance sector, including general takaful, recorded premium growth of 16%, reaching Rs283 billion from Rs243 billion in 2024. Claims paid increased sharply to Rs138 billion from Rs92 billion, while the number of policies increased to 2.7 million from 2.4 million. Non-life insurance penetration stood at 0.28%, while health insurance covered approximately 11 million lives. Motor insurance remained the largest non-life category by premium, accounting for 28%, or Rs78.6 billion, followed by fire and property damage at 26%, or Rs77.9 billion, and engineering at 15%, or Rs41.2 billion. Accident and health premiums increased 42% to Rs35.7 billion from Rs25.1 billion.
Motor insurance also represented the largest share of non-life claims paid, accounting for 33%, or Rs46 billion. Engineering followed with 24%, or Rs33.1 billion, while accident and health accounted for 16%, or Rs21.4 billion. Across the non-life sector, 1,353,859 claims were outstanding during the year and 1,067,104 were settled. Accident and health insurance alone accounted for 720,726 paid claims. Sindh was the largest contributor to non-life premiums with 46%, equivalent to Rs113.99 billion, followed by Punjab at 37%, or Rs90.67 billion, and the Federal area at 10%, or Rs23.38 billion. The overall industry retention ratio remained at 44%, unchanged from 2024.
The SECP data also included gender-disaggregated information. Male policyholders accounted for 76% of individual life insurance premiums and 74% of the total sum assured, while female policyholders represented 24% of premiums and 26% of the total sum assured. In non-life health insurance, males accounted for 76% of covered lives compared with 24% for females. Of the complaints received during 2025, 94% were lodged by male policyholders and 6% by female policyholders, broadly similar to the 93% and 7% split recorded in 2024.
The takaful sector continued to expand across both family and general segments. Family takaful premiums increased 23% to Rs81 billion from Rs66 billion, representing 16% of total life insurance premiums compared with 15% in 2024. General takaful contributions grew 33% to Rs42 billion from Rs31 billion, increasing their share of non-life premiums from 13% to 15%. Within general takaful, motor represented 38% of contributions, followed by health at 33%, fire at 17%, and marine and miscellaneous categories at 6% each. Health takaful recorded substantial growth over the longer term, with contributions increasing from Rs2 billion in 2020 to Rs14 billion in 2025.
Follow the PakBanker Whatsapp Channel for updates across Pakistan’s banking ecosystem.