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Kenya’s insurance penetration hits 8-year high.
Kenya's insurance industry has reached its highest penetration level in eight years, new industry data shows.
Insurance penetration, which measures premiums as a share of the economy, rose to 2.63 per cent of GDP in 2025, up from 2.45 per cent the year before. It is the fifth straight annual rise, though still below the 2.68 per cent recorded in 2017.
Life insurance premiums jumped 23.2 per cent to Sh236.29 billion in 2025, while general insurance, which covers cars, property and health, grew 9.93 per cent to Sh225.39 billion. For the first time, life cover overtook general insurance in market share, at 51.2 per cent against 48.8 per cent.
What is driving the growth
Between 2016 and 2025, life insurance premiums more than tripled, while general insurance premiums grew 1.85 times. Industry players say the shift reflects new products, more than 40 of them launched or repackaged in 2025, and growing financial awareness among Kenyans looking for long-term savings alongside cover.
More Kenyans taking up life policies means insurers hold larger pools of long-term savings, which analysts say could eventually support cheaper credit and more stable pension and investment products across the wider economy.
This story was put together by K N N from material first published by Business Daily.
That was a Kibra News Network report, read by an A I voice.
Kenya’s insurance industry has reached its highest penetration level in eight years, new industry data shows.
Insurance penetration, which measures premiums as a share of the economy, rose to 2.63 per cent of GDP in 2025, up from 2.45 per cent the year before. It is the fifth straight annual rise, though still below the 2.68 per cent recorded in 2017.
Life insurance premiums jumped 23.2 per cent to Sh236.29 billion in 2025, while general insurance, which covers cars, property and health, grew 9.93 per cent to Sh225.39 billion. For the first time, life cover overtook general insurance in market share, at 51.2 per cent against 48.8 per cent.
What is driving the growth
Between 2016 and 2025, life insurance premiums more than tripled, while general insurance premiums grew 1.85 times. Industry players say the shift reflects new products, more than 40 of them launched or repackaged in 2025, and growing financial awareness among Kenyans looking for long-term savings alongside cover.
More Kenyans taking up life policies means insurers hold larger pools of long-term savings, which analysts say could eventually support cheaper credit and more stable pension and investment products across the wider economy.
KNN Newsroom is the staff byline for stories written, rewritten and edited at the Kibra News Network desk. Where a story credits an outside outlet, the original source is linked at the foot of the piece.
