The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) in Taiwan has released updated figures on the life insurance sector’s sales of foreign-currency denominated products through August 2025.
According to the FSC, new premium income from these products reached NT$271.813 billion, marking a 42% increase compared to NT$191.813 billion for the same period in 2024.
Breaking down the figures, investment-linked insurance products contributed NT$42.313 billion, representing about 16% of the total and reflecting a similar 42% year-on-year rise.
Traditional insurance offerings accounted for NT$229.5 billion, or 84% of the total, also up 42% from NT$161.993 billion a year earlier.
In the third quarter of 2025 (Q3 2025), the FSC reported on the performance of spillover-effect insurance products and in-kind benefit products.
As of the end of Q3, 15 life insurers had registered a total of 299 spillover-effect products, with 932,074 new contracts sold. This represented a marginal decrease of 1% from the previous year’s 939,542 contracts.
However, first-year premium income from these products rose 46% to NT$27,877.20 million, compared to NT$19,074.74 million in Q3 2024.
For in-kind payment insurance products, 52 offerings from 7 life insurers had been approved or registered.
New contracts for these products reached 343,543, an 81% increase over the 190,040 contracts sold in the third quarter of the previous year.
Despite the higher contract volume, first-year premium income for these products fell by 49% to NT$727.42 million, down from NT$1,436.91 million in Q3 2024.
Industry-wide, insurance companies in Taiwan posted a pre-tax profit of NT$117.7 billion by the end of September 2025.
Life insurers reported NT$91.6 billion in pre-tax profit, a decrease of NT$202.3 billion, or 68.8%, from the previous year.
Non-life insurers, by contrast, saw pre-tax profit rise by NT$4.0 billion, or 18.1%, to NT$26.1 billion.
Owners’ equity for the sector totalled NT$2,807.4 billion at the end of September. Life insurers’ equity stood at NT$2,645.0 billion, down 1.1% year-on-year, while non-life insurers’ equity increased by 9.2% to NT$162.4 billion.
The FSC also highlighted the impact of currency movements, noting that the New Taiwan Dollar appreciated 7.59% against the US Dollar since the end of 2024.
The foreign exchange valuation reserve for life insurers rose by NT$122.3 billion to NT$341.9 billion.
The combined effects of exchange and hedging activities, along with volatility, resulted in a net impact of NT$-653.9 billion on the foreign exchange valuation reserve.
Overseas investments by life insurers generated net gains of NT$124.8 billion, excluding volatility effects.
Amid these financial developments, the FSC is advancing new regulations to govern the outsourcing of insurance operations.
Following amendments to the Insurance Act in June 2025, the FSC has introduced a draft regulation titled “Regulations Governing Internal Operating Systems and Procedures for the Outsourcing of Insurance Enterprise Operation.”
The proposal would replace the current administrative guidelines with enforceable legal standards.
Under the draft, insurance firms would face stricter criteria when engaging external service providers.
The FSC is also proposing to eliminate the provision allowing brokers to collect premiums on behalf of insurers, emphasising that brokers represent policyholders.
The draft further permits outsourcing of tax-related land registration tasks and mandates fixed terms for all outsourcing contracts.
The FSC stated that the changes are intended to enhance the quality of outsourced services, safeguard consumer interests, and mitigate operational risks for insurers.
