IGI Life struggles to grow premium revenue in 2025

Life insurers are supposed to flourish on patience. They sell long promises, collect small cheques over many years, and turn household caution into institutional capital. Pakistan in 2025 was not an easy place for that old bargain. IGI Life Insurance’s annual results, released this week, show a company that managed to improve profit without fixing the more awkward problem of demand. Gross premium and contribution revenue rose to Rs14.10 billion in 2025 from Rs13.49 billion a year earlier, which is growth, but not the kind that looks impressive in a country still emerging from a bruising inflation cycle. More tellingly, total revenue slipped to Rs17.44 billion from Rs17.74 billion. Profit after tax did improve sharply, rising to Rs423.37 million from Rs278.90 million, while earnings per share climbed to Rs2.48 from Rs1.64. For shareholders, that was a better year than the topline alone would suggest. For the industry, it was a reminder that revenue growth remains elusive.

That tension matters because life insurance in Pakistan has long tried to sell itself not merely as protection against misfortune, but as a form of disciplined saving. When that proposition works, insurers gather sticky, long-duration money. When it does not, policyholders either stay away or cash out early. IGI Life’s 2025 numbers suggest the company is caught somewhere in between: large enough to remain profitable, but not growing fast enough to suggest a broad-based revival in retail appetite. The rise in gross premiums was modest, while the fall in total revenue points to a softer contribution from investments and other income streams. In plain English, the company earned more for equity holders, but it did not persuade many more Pakistanis to buy into the life-insurance proposition.