Hong Kong’s insurance market posted total gross premiums of HK$291.6 billion in the first quarter of 2026, a 32.3% year-on-year increase, according to provisional statistics released July 24 by the Insurance Authority (IA). The result extends a sustained trajectory: full-year 2025 gross premiums reached HK$827 billion, up 29.7%, while the first three quarters of 2025 saw total gross premiums of HK$637 billion, a 32.5% rise year-on-year.
The figures arrive, however, without one data point the industry has been tracking since mid-2025. The IA stated it is conducting a comprehensive review of the scope and criteria concerning data collection on non-local policyholders, and that separate statistics regarding Mainland visitors will not be published pending completion of that exercise. The notice has appeared in every IA provisional release since Q1 2025, covering five consecutive reporting periods. The most recent verified Mainland visitor figures date from the IA’s April 2025 full-year 2024 release, which reported new business premiums from Mainland visitors totalling HK$62.8 billion – 28.6% of total new individual office premiums – with whole life, critical illness, and medical policies accounting for approximately 59%, 28%, and 5% respectively.
The cross-border dimension has long been a documented structural driver of Hong Kong’s long term business. Cross-border business contributed approximately 30% of total new business premium in 2024, underscoring Hong Kong’s position as a regional hub for Mainland Chinese buyers seeking stable investment returns and comprehensive protection benefits, according to RGA’s December 2025 Hong Kong market outlook.
New office premiums for long term business – excluding Retirement Scheme business – rose 51.1% to HK$141.1 billion in Q1 2026. Non-linked individual business contributed HK$135.3 billion, up 50.2%, with participating business accounting for HK$125.7 billion, a 53.7% increase. Linked individual business added HK$5.7 billion, up 77.2%. Full-year 2025 new office premiums for long term business reached HK$330.9 billion, a 50.6% increase, meaning Q1 2026 alone – at HK$141.1 billion – represents approximately 43% of that annual volume, indicating an accelerating pace of new business formation.
Total revenue premiums for in-force long term business reached HK$256.4 billion, up 35.6%, composed of HK$233.5 billion from non-linked individual business, up 38.1%; HK$8.6 billion from linked individual business, up 39%; and HK$12.1 billion from Retirement Scheme business, up 3.2%. Total claims and benefits paid fell 2.1% to HK$92.3 billion, a divergence from in-force premium growth that the IA did not address in its release. Around 28,000 Qualifying Deferred Annuity Policies were issued, contributing HK$1.8 billion, or 1.3% of total individual business premiums. As of March 31, 2026, total assets under long term business stood at HK$5,504 billion, with net assets at HK$733.3 billion.
AIA Hong Kong said it secured the highest number of No. 1 market positions in the first quarter of 2026, based on the Insurance Authority’s provisional statistics. Alger Fung, chief executive officer of AIA Hong Kong & Macau, said: “These achievements are about far more than rankings. They reflect the trust that customers place in AIA to support them and their families at every stage of life.”
Total gross premiums for general business were HK$35.2 billion, up 12.5%. Direct onshore business contributed HK$15.8 billion, up 3.4%; reinsurance inward offshore business reached HK$14.4 billion, up 21.6%; and reinsurance inward onshore business came in at HK$2.9 billion, up 28%. Overall operating profit expanded 56.1% to HK$4.1 billion, with underwriting profit rising 193.7% to HK$2.6 billion. Net premiums increased 12% to HK$23.1 billion, while total gross claims paid rose 15% to HK$14.1 billion.
Direct business underwriting profit reached HK$2.3 billion, up 118.2%, supported by onshore Pecuniary Loss business at HK$1.4 billion profit, up 451.6%, and onshore Accident & Health at HK$0.3 billion profit, up 178%. Direct gross premiums were led by onshore Accident & Health at HK$8.4 billion, up 9.9% – consistent with the longer-term trend identified by AM Best, which noted that Accident & Health coverage remained the largest contributor to gross written premiums in Hong Kong’s non-life segment, with the A&H segment recording 12% premium growth in 2023 and momentum continuing into 2024.
Reinsurance inward business recorded gross premiums of HK$17.3 billion, up 22.7%, and net premiums of HK$11.3 billion, up 21.8%. The underwriting result moved from a loss of HK$0.2 billion in Q1 2025 to a profit of HK$0.3 billion in Q1 2026, supported by offshore Property Damage and offshore Motor Vehicle business. Growth was led by offshore Accident & Health at HK$3.4 billion, up 56.4%; offshore Motor Vehicle at HK$1.9 billion, up 29.8%; and offshore Property Damage at HK$5.1 billion, up 8.3%. Total and net assets under general business as of March 31, 2026, stood at HK$351.9 billion and HK$137.7 billion respectively.
AM Best senior financial analyst Stephanie Mi noted that Hong Kong’s non-life market performance “is driven by factors such as increased consumer awareness, ongoing regulatory initiatives, and the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area project,” adding that the shift to the risk-based capital framework “is expected to help insurers manage equity investment exposure by aligning capital requirements with actual risk profiles.”
Fitch Ratings has maintained a neutral outlook on Asia-Pacific insurance for 2026, citing robust performance and strong solvency buffers across most markets, while noting that growth in both life and non-life segments will likely moderate. Hong Kong’s Q1 2026 figures suggest the territory’s long term segment continues to outpace that regional moderation – though without Mainland visitor data, the structural basis of that performance remains only partially visible.
