Hong Kong’s insurance market may balloon 55% as Greater Bay Area ages

Hong Kong’s insurance business may expand by a compounded 55 per cent over the next eight years, driven by the so-called silver economy serving senior citizens and growth in the Greater Bay Area, industry experts said on Tuesday.

Gross insurance premium in the city may jump to US$127 billion by 2032 from last year’s US$82 billion, said Steve Finch, Manulife Financial’s Asia president, citing industry forecasts.

That growth is enabled by the “depth and sophistication of Hong Kong’s insurance sector, making it a centre of excellence”, especially as integration between the city and the broader bay area continues to increase, Finch said during the 2025 China Conference organised by the Post.

The upbeat forecast underscores why Manulife (International), the Hong Kong and Macau pension unit of Canada’s largest insurer, is betting on Hong Kong as it prepares to redomicile from Bermuda in November. The Toronto-headquartered insurer already gets 44 per cent of its earnings from Asia, with the region’s contribution projected to reach 50 per cent by 2027.

Steve Finch, president and CEO of Manulife Asia, speaks at SCMP’s 2025 China Conference on July 8, 2025. Photo: Eugene Lee

Another reason for Manulife’s optimism is the bay area – a cluster of 11 cities around southern China’s Guangdong province, including Hong Kong and Macau, that has a combined economy of almost US$2 trillion. Only 3.5 per cent of the total population of 86 million people in the region has health and life insurance, much lower than the 18 per cent in Hong Kong, providing ample opportunity for growth, Finch said.

Insurers are already reporting robust sales in Hong Kong, with new life policies jumping 21.4 per cent last year to a record HK$219.8 billion (US$28.34 billion). One in four policies, or 28.6 per cent, was bought by mainland residents visiting the city, according to data from the Insurance Authority (IA).

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