Which Global Changes Will Most Impact the Life Insurance Industry?

These days, the world seems to be changing more rapidly than ever before, and the new facts of life that these shifting realities bring are something to which everyone must react in some way. This might be particularly true for life insurance companies, which may need to rush to catch up to where they think they should be in the coming years.

One of the biggest changes now under way on a global level is technological: People are getting a larger number of devices that connect to the internet every year, and as such their expectations for what their insurers can provide them might be changing rapidly, according to a report from Life Health Pro. As recently as 2003, there were only about 500 million electronic devices connected to the internet, but through the end of next year, that number is expected to have grown to 25 billion. By 2020, it will likely have doubled once again. As such, investing in mobile technologies, data analytics, and the cloud may be vital for life insurance going forward.

Another major factor that is becoming more prevalent all the time is the effect global climate change will have on the world, the report said. By 2030, Earth's population will probably be somewhere around 8.3 billion, and to accommodate them all, the world will need to produce as much as 50 percent more energy, 40 percent more drinking water, and 35 percent more food. That, too, could have a major impact on life companies because of how that added risk might affect their potential customer bases.

Changing demographics
Of course, because the population is set to explode in many parts of the world over the next few decades, the U.S. can expect many demographic changes, the report said. Within the next few years alone, the number of people over 70 and under 5 years old will be more or less similar, and that has never happened in world history. This may significantly alter the overall market for life insurance companies, depending upon who is seeking such policies.

Life insurers will certainly have many things about how they approach issuing coverage to consider going forward, because in addition to all these challenges, many others still linger from the recent recession. One of the biggest may be the misconception that this kind of coverage is expensive, and if insurers can find ways to overcome that worry, then they're likely to be in better shape in the short term.