The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has published its latest round of quarterly insurance statistics, covering the three months to March 31, 2026, across the general insurance, life insurance, and private health insurance sectors.
Australia’s general insurers posted a combined after-tax profit of $634 million for the March 2026 quarter, a turnaround from the $134 million recorded three months earlier but well short of the $2.265 billion achieved in September 2025. Gross insurance revenue came to $20.112 billion for the period, pulling back from $20.630 billion in the December quarter. On the cost side, insurance service expenses settled at $16.406 billion after the elevated $20.020 billion recorded in December 2025 and compared with $14.347 billion in September 2025.
The net underwriting measure, the insurance service result, reached $1.243 billion in March 2026. That is a material recovery from the $284 million in December 2025, though it trails the $2.796 billion posted in the September 2025 quarter and the $2.677 billion in June 2025. Within the insurance service result, short-tail property classes swung from a negative $696 million in December 2025 to a positive $657 million in March 2026. Long-tail classes held relatively steady at $435 million, while mortgage business contributed $128 million, down from $164 million in December 2025. Inwards reinsurance contributed $466 million for the quarter.
Investment income added $530 million, a modest improvement from $428 million in December 2025 but below the $1.113 billion earned in September 2025. Capital adequacy remained above minimum requirements. The prescribed capital amount coverage ratio was 1.81 on March 31, 2026, compared with 1.78 on December 31, 2025. The total eligible capital base was $39.391 billion, and total assets across the sector rose to $144.382 billion from $141.893 billion. Return on net assets was 1.5% for the quarter, against 0.3% in December 2025. The sector comprised 88 entities at the end of the March quarter, one more than the previous period.
Life insurers reported a combined after-tax profit from continuing operations of $121 million for the March 2026 quarter, a decline from $293 million in December 2025 and less than half the $332 million posted in March 2025. Quarterly insurance revenue was $5.900 billion, down from $6.210 billion in the prior quarter. Insurance service expense fell in line to $5.767 billion from $6.166 billion. The insurance service result came to $249 million, roughly in keeping with the $245 million reported in December 2025. The investment result proved a significant drag on the quarter. It fell to $282 million from $321 million in December 2025 and compared poorly with the $2.140 billion reported in June 2025, when equity market conditions were more favourable.
Return on net assets was 0.7% for the March quarter, continuing a downward trajectory from 3.6% in March 2025, 2.0% in June 2025, and 1.6% in each of the two subsequent quarters. The capital base contracted to $15.454 billion from $15.749 billion in December 2025, and the prescribed capital amount coverage ratio declined to 1.90 from 1.91 – a continuation of a trend from 2.08 in March 2025. Total assets were $130.319 billion, with net assets at $18.171 billion. The number of licensed life insurers remained unchanged at 22.
Private health insurers recorded insurance revenue of $8.523 billion for the March 2026 quarter, against $8.627 billion in December 2025. Insurance service expense was $8.088 billion, producing an insurance service result of $392 million, compared with $468 million the prior quarter. After-tax profit came to $210 million, down from $417 million in December 2025 and $493 million in September 2025. The HIB gross margin was 14.4% and net margin was 3.6%, consistent with the December 2025 figures. The prescribed capital amount coverage ratio was 2.45 on March 31, 2026, down from 2.51 on December 31, 2025. The number of private health insurers fell to 28 from 29 in the September 2025 quarter.
On the membership side, 12,790,111 people – representing 45.8% of the Australian population – held hospital treatment cover as of March 31, 2026. That figure was 101,918 higher than at the end of December 2025, with single policies growing by 21,615 and family policies by 13,860 during the quarter. The greatest coverage movement by age cohort was among those aged 40 to 44, which recorded a net increase of 11,771 people. General treatment cover was held by 15,491,109 people, or 55.5% of the population, an increase of 113,964 compared with December 2025. Over the 12 months to March 31, 2026, that figure grew by 332,938.
Regarding Lifetime Health Cover loading, 87.0% of adults with hospital cover had a certified age of entry of 30, attracting no loading. At the end of the March quarter, 1,187,740 people carried a loading – a net increase of 85,524 over the preceding 12 months. During the same period, 88,245 people had their loading removed after completing the required 10-year payment period. Hospital treatment benefits paid by insurers for the quarter totalled $4.749 billion, a decrease of 11.4% against December 2025. That amount broke down to $3.465 billion for hospital services including accommodation and nursing, $700.79 million for medical services, and $583.93 million for medical devices or human tissue items. Average hospital benefits per person rose from $1,514.81 for the year ending March 2025 to $1,587.08 for the year ending March 2026.
General treatment benefits paid came to $1.862 billion for the March quarter, a 3.3% decrease from December 2025. By category, dental accounted for $1.014 billion, optical for $285.48 million, physiotherapy for $144.27 million, and chiropractic for $87.79 million. Members faced higher hospital costs on a year-on-year basis. The average out-of-pocket payment for a hospital episode was $511.02, an increase of 8.9% from the March 2025 quarter. Where a gap was payable for medical services, the average out-of-pocket amount was $245.08, with orthopaedic procedures recording the largest average gap at $849.93. Hospital utilisation, measured by episodes, was 10.4% lower in the March quarter than in December 2025. Of the 1,223,507 hospital episodes recorded, 815,968 took place in private hospitals, 176,752 in public hospitals, 166,350 in day hospital facilities, and 64,437 in hospital-substitute settings.
