The average mortality rate fell 30 percent since 2002, which could lead to cuts in premiums of traditional life insurance policies, according to the Financial Supervisory Commission’s (FSC) latest life table released on Thursday.
A life table shows for each age the probability that a person would die before their next birthday. It is used by life insurers to assess the risks of providing products to consumers at particular ages.
The commission last updated its life table in 2002.
It was time to revise the table given improvements in public health, medications and treatment, Insurance Bureau Deputy Director-General Wang Li-hui (王麗惠) told a news conference in New Taipei City.
The creation of a life table is based on actuarial science and data collected by local life insurance companies, Wang said.
Overall, Taiwanese’s average mortality rate fell 30 percent from the previous life table, while the degree of reduction varies by age group, she said.
The mortality rate for a one-year-old declined the most among all age groups, falling 50 percent to 1.89 basis points for boys and 52 percent to 1.45 basis points for girls.
For male adults, the mortality rate of those aged 25 to 35 fell to a range of 4.96 basis points to 9.77 basis points, compared with a range of 8.21 basis points to 15.32 basis points.
For female adults, the death rate of those aged older than 75 dropped to 1.63 percentage points, compared with 2.42 percentage points.
The updated life table takes effect on July 1, and would affect life insurance premiums to be sold after that date, Wang said.
The life table affects the liability reserve interest rates, which insurers use to evaluate liabilities at market value on all life insurance policies, while the decrease in mortality rates would lead to lower premiums of traditional life insurance policies, she said.
“Consumers could expect a reduction as high as 30 percent in premiums of new protection type insurance policies that are not linked with investment plans,” Wang said.
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