Gitnux/Report 2026

Disability Insurance Industry Statistics

With new 2026 snapshots in hand, these Disability Insurance Industry statistics track what is changing for claims, approvals, and costs rather than only what used to happen. You will see where the approval and denial balance is tightening, and what that shift means for policyholders trying to plan for the unexpected.
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November 11, 2026Updated
Disability Insurance Industry Statistics
Thomas LindqvistWritten by Thomas Lindqvist·Edited by David Sutherland·Fact-checked by Jonathan Hale
Published ·Updated
How this report is researched
01Editorial Scope

An editor sets the topic, the inclusion criteria, and the evaluation framework before research starts.

02Source Research

AI search agents locate sources and extract each figure together with the document it came from.

Read our full methodology →

Search agents attach provenance to every extracted figure.

Next review: within 31 days

01 Industry overview

The disability insurance industry at a glance

U.S. disability insurance remains a large income-protection market: life and health disability-income premiums totaled $29.39 billion in 2024, while surveyed group plans held $19.9 billion in in-force premium.

$29.39B[64]
Disability-income premiums, 2024
$19.9B[48]
Group in-force premium, 2024
$5.6B[18]
Individual in-force premium, 2025
76.80%[26]
Top five individual market share, 2024
Market size
U.S. life and health disability-income premiums reached $29.39 billion in 2024. Separately, participating group insurers reported $19.9 billion of combined short-term disability, long-term disability and paid family and medical leave in-force premium in 2024.[64][48]
Market share & regions
The NAIC reported 8.6 million disabled beneficiaries nationally in December 2024; California accounted for 7.3% of disabled-worker awards during 2024, followed by Texas at 5.9% and Florida at 5.8%. These figures describe the public Social Security disability population rather than private insurance premium share.[50]
Segmentation
Individual disability insurance is split mainly between non-cancelable, guaranteed-renewable and buy-sell products. In Gen Re’s 2025 survey, non-cancelable policies represented 85% of $5.6 billion in-force premium, guaranteed-renewable policies 14% ($793.7 million), and buy-sell coverage less than 1% ($41.8 million).[18]
Key players & concentration
The five largest groups in NAIC individual long-term disability-income premiums accounted for 76.80% of the 2024 market. Northwestern Mutual led with 25.08%, followed by Unum at 15.25%, Guardian at 15.10%, Principal at 10.73% and MassMutual at 10.65%.[26]
Pricing
In Milliman’s 2024 group survey, average in-force premium per life was $292.30 for long-term disability and $224.70 for short-term disability. The corresponding year-over-year increases were 3.5% and 3.1%, respectively.[48]
Trends, drivers & challenges
Group disability premium grew faster than covered lives in 2024: long-term disability premium increased 4.2% while covered lives rose 0.7%, and short-term disability premium increased 5.2% while covered lives rose 2.0%. Individual sales were more moderate, with Gen Re reporting 2025 new sales premium up 2.7% to $491.8 million.[48][18]
Consumer behavior & competition
In 2025, Gen Re survey participants issued 285,377 new individual disability policies, up 0.7% from 2024, while medical occupations generated 44% of new sales premium and 4A-and-above occupations generated 46%. In the broader labor market, the 2024 employment-population ratio was 22.5% for people with a disability versus 65.5% for people without a disability.[18][65]
Regulation
Social Security Disability Insurance remains a major public income-support framework alongside private disability insurance: in December 2024 it paid benefits to 8.6 million disabled beneficiaries, including 7.2 million disabled workers. During 2024, 594,749 disabled-worker awards were recorded, while 767,224 disabled-worker benefits were terminated.[50]
Latest news
The latest major industry surveys published in 2026 show modest expansion: Gen Re reported 2025 individual disability in-force premium of $5.6 billion, up 1.9%, while new sales premium rose 2.7% to $491.8 million. Milliman’s 2026 group survey reported 2025 rankings for long-term disability carriers, with Hartford leading at $2.154 billion of in-force premium and MetLife at $2.069 billion.[18][20]

02 Ranking

Top 10 Companies in the Disability Insurance Industry

The leading companies in the disability insurance industry, ranked on market impact, performance, momentum, innovation and brand popularity.

Updated November 11, 2026 · Next review December 11, 2026

Ranked by Overall score · How we score ↓

Editor's top 3 picks

Where to start, by need.

  1. #1 Overall · Leader in u.S. group disability insurance

    MetLife

    US

    Ranked #1 · 9.3 · U.S. group disability insurance

    Why we picked it: It underwrites U.S. group disability at scale, with 2025 in-force premium placing it second.

    See in ranking ↓Visit metlife.com ↗

  2. #2 overall

    The Hartford

    US

    Ranked #2 · 9.2 · U.S. group disability insurance

    Why we picked it: It leads the U.S. group disability in-force premium measure for 2025 across long-term and short-term.

    See in ranking ↓Visit thehartford.com ↗

  3. Leader in international disability insurance

    Unum Group

    US

    Ranked #3 · 8.9 · International disability insurance

    Why we picked it: It operates group and individual disability across the U.S., the UK, and Poland.

    See in ranking ↓Visit unum.com ↗

Pick 1 is the #1 company overall. Pick 2 is the highest-ranked company in the top 5 that adds a new segment; no further segment places in the top 5, so pick 3 follows rank.

Full ranking

Sort by
Top 10 companies in the disability insurance industry, 2026 – Gitnux ranking
#CompanyOverall ↓Company snapshot
1

MetLife

U.S. group disability insurance · US

9.3
2

The Hartford

U.S. group disability insurance · US

9.2
3

Unum Group

International disability insurance · US

8.9
4

New York Life

U.S. group disability insurance · US

8.8
5

Voya Financial

U.S. group disability insurance · US

8.8
6

Aflac

Supplemental and group disability insurance, US and Japan · US

8.7
7

Lincoln National Corporation

Group and individual disability insurance, United States · US

8.7
8

Principal Financial Group

Group and individual disability insurance, United States · US

8.5
9

Northwestern Mutual

Individual disability insurance, United States · US

8.3
10

Trustmark

Voluntary and group disability insurance, United States · US

8.2

How we score

  • Impact (30%): scale and weight in the market (revenue, market share, employees, market position).

Popularity (brand search demand, 15%) counts toward Overall but is not published as a column. Overall leaves out what is not known.

Scale Scores are shown on a 7–10 scale with one decimal; bars start at 7.0.

Cadence Recalculated when new figures are published; next review December 11, 2026.

Independence. Rankings are editorially independent. Scores, ranks, picks and the verdict follow the method above; no company can pay to change them.

Cite this ranking

APA

Thomas Lindqvist. (2026, February 13). Top 10 companies in the disability insurance industry. In Disability Insurance Industry Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/disability-insurance-industry-statistics/#top-companies

report visual · Comparison

Revenue of the largest disability insurance companies

MetLife leads with $77.1B in annual revenue (group level, converted to USD).

MetLife$77.1B
New York Life$29.6B
Lincoln National Corporation$18.2B
Principal Financial Group$16.0B
Unum Group$13.1B
Voya Financial$8.2B
source-verifiedsec.gov · newyorklife.com · investors.principal.com · investors.unum.com · investors.voya.com2025

04 Statistics

Technology & Innovation

AI use in underwriting appears limited: 90% of participating group disability carriers reported AI played no role in underwriting decisions in 2026.

AI in the disability insurance industry

  • 90% of participating group disability carriers reported that AI played no role in underwriting decisions in 2026.[1]
  • A U.S. disability insurer reduced per-claim costs by 40% after deploying a GenAI solution for medical-document review and summarization.[2]
  • LLM-based medical-information summarization was the only AI application currently reported in use by participating group disability carriers in 2026.[1]
  • A U.S. disability insurer achieved more than 95% accuracy in AI-generated medical-document summaries after implementing a GenAI claims solution.[2]
  • A U.S. disability insurer achieved 100% service-level-agreement compliance after implementing a GenAI-powered claims-summary solution.[2]
  • A U.S. disability insurer reported customer satisfaction above 90% after implementing a GenAI-powered claims process.[2]

Automation in the disability insurance industry

  • A Fortune 250 insurance carrier used customer-experience automation for claimant interactions in its short-term-disability claims process.[3]
  • Disability insurers may manage up to 200,000 or more claims per insurer annually, creating a large potential workload for automated processing.[2]

Digital Transformation in the insurance sector (sector benchmark)

  • 46% of global insurers were classified as having digital aspirations in ACORD’s 2025 maturity study, meaning they had explicit digitalization investment but remained on the transformation journey.[4]
  • 13% of UK insurance professionals surveyed said their operations were fully digitized, while 79% considered digital transformation important or extremely important for competitiveness.[5]
  • 25% of the world’s 210 largest insurers had fully digitalized their value chain in ACORD’s 2025 study, while 46% were still investing in digitalization without completing the transformation.[4]
  • 45% of surveyed global insurance companies identified legacy technology systems and infrastructure as their biggest barrier to adopting digital tools and new ways of working.[6]

Technology Adoption in the insurance sector (sector benchmark)

  • 76% of US insurance executives surveyed by Deloitte had implemented generative AI in at least one business function in 2024, including 82% of life-and-annuity insurers and 70% of property-and-casualty insurers.[7]
  • 95% of UK insurance firms responding to the Bank of England’s 2024 survey were already using artificial intelligence, the highest adoption rate among surveyed financial-services sectors.[8]
  • 78% of global property-and-casualty insurers surveyed by Bain were using generative AI in some capacity in 2025, but only 4% had scaled it across their organizations.[9]
  • 65% of European insurance undertakings surveyed by EIOPA were already actively using generative AI in 2025, with another 23% planning adoption.[10]

Cloud Computing in the insurance sector (sector benchmark)

  • 94% of Insurance Ireland CEOs surveyed said their companies currently adopted cloud technology in 2025, making it the most widely adopted innovative technology in the survey.[11]
  • Gartner reported in 2024 that industry cloud platforms were highly valued by insurance respondents to its Cloud End-User Behavior Survey, indicating strong interest in sector-specific cloud environments.[12]
  • 78% of Insurance Ireland CEOs surveyed planned future use of cloud technology in 2025, despite already reporting 94% current adoption.[11]
  • Cloud computing and data-science techniques were described as well embedded across many Irish insurance companies in a 2025 CEO survey covering 37 respondents.[11]

Big Data in the insurance sector (sector benchmark)

  • 75% of Insurance Ireland CEOs surveyed said their companies currently adopted data science or analytics in 2025, making it the second-most adopted innovative technology in the survey.[11]
  • 65% of European insurance undertakings surveyed by EIOPA used generative AI in 2025, with reported applications spanning customer service, claims management, sales and distribution, and data analysis.[10]
  • 50% of European non-life insurers and 24% of life insurers reported using artificial intelligence in their operations in EIOPA’s 2023 digitalization survey.[10]
  • 64% of reported generative-AI use cases among European insurers were for internal back-office applications in EIOPA’s 2025 survey, compared with 36% for customer-facing applications.[10]

IoT in the insurance sector (sector benchmark)

  • 13% of Insurance Ireland CEOs surveyed said their companies currently adopted Internet of Things technology in 2025.[11]
  • 19% of Insurance Ireland CEOs surveyed planned future Internet of Things adoption in 2025, up from 13% reporting current adoption.[11]
  • 13% of Insurance Ireland CEOs reported current IoT adoption in 2025, compared with 94% for cloud technology and 75% for data science or analytics.[11]
  • 19% of Insurance Ireland CEOs reported planned IoT adoption in 2025, compared with 54% planning machine learning and predictive modelling and 86% planning artificial intelligence.[11]

Innovation in the disability insurance industry

  • Workplace life and disability benefit participation rates were higher in 2025 than before the pandemic, according to LIMRA market research.[13]
  • 7 in 10 employers said their workplace-benefit strategies considerably influence their ability to attract and retain talent in 2025, according to LIMRA research covering workplace life and disability benefits.[13]

05 Statistics

Data & Analytics

Fraud response and governance remain execution topics. Internal data quality was cited by 61% of respondents as their biggest fraud-response challenge in 2024.

Data Quality in the insurance sector (sector benchmark)

  • 53% of insurance respondents globally identified access to external data as a fraud-response challenge in 2024.[14]
  • 61% of insurance respondents globally identified internal data quality as their biggest challenge in fraud response in 2024.[14]
  • 71% of UK insurers and brokers reported duplicate data as a data challenge in 2025.[15]
  • 63% of UK insurers and brokers reported distrust in data as a data challenge in 2025.[15]
  • 39% of insurers globally cited asset data management as an operational challenge in 2024.[16]
  • 45% of insurers globally cited receiving relevant asset data within required timeframes as an operational challenge in 2024.[16]

Data Governance in the insurance sector (sector benchmark)

  • 48% of insurance executives said risk management and compliance were a focus of their data strategy in 2026.[17]
  • 17% of UK insurers and brokers had a unified data platform supporting integrations from multiple data sources in 2025.[15]
  • 65% of insurance executives said data governance was a focus of their data strategy in 2026.[17]
  • 67% of UK insurers and brokers followed manual processes for customer financial-crime risk assessments in 2025.[15]
  • 55% of insurance executives said data security and privacy were a focus of their data strategy in 2026.[17]

06 Statistics

Strategy & Growth

Group growth outpaces covered lives, while individual new sales stay modest. Individual new-sales premium rose 2.7% to $491.8 million in 2025.

Growth in the disability insurance industry

  • $480.7 million was new disability-income sales premium reported by participating U.S. insurers in 2025.[18]
  • 3.0 million individual disability policies were in force at participating U.S. insurers in 2025, approximately level with 2024.[18]
  • $491.8 million was total new individual disability sales premium reported by participating U.S. insurers in 2025, up 2.7% from 2024.[18]
  • More than 285,000 new individual disability policies were issued by participating U.S. insurers in 2025, up nearly 1% from 2024.[18]
  • Nine of 12 surveyed U.S. individual disability insurers reported negative new-premium growth in 2024.[19]
  • $423 million was new annualized premium reported by 12 U.S. individual disability insurers in 2024, down 1% from 2023.[19]

Differentiation in the disability insurance industry

  • 85% of new U.S. individual disability premium was issued on noncancelable policies in 2024.[19]
  • 62% of new individual disability policies issued by participating U.S. insurers in 2025 were noncancelable policies.[18]
  • 38% of new individual disability policies issued by participating U.S. insurers in 2025 were guaranteed-renewable policies.[18]
  • 46% of 2025 U.S. individual disability new-sales premium came from occupations rated 4A or above.[18]
  • 33% of new U.S. individual disability premium came from surgeons and other doctors in 2024.[19]
  • 85% of 2025 in-force individual disability premium was noncancelable business.[18]

Mergers and acquisitions in the disability insurance industry

  • Unum ceded $120 million of individual disability in-force premium to Fortitude Re in a 2025 transaction.[20]
  • Protective agreed in April 2024 to acquire ShelterPoint Group, a provider of statutory disability and paid-family-and-medical-leave products.[21]
  • The Standard’s 2024 transaction with Elevance Health included a 10-year distribution partnership for life and disability products.[22]
  • Symetra completed its acquisition through reinsurance of Dearborn Group’s life and disability business on October 1, 2025.[23]
  • The Standard acquired Elevance Health’s life and disability business on April 1, 2024.[22]

Strategic partnerships in the disability insurance industry

  • The Standard and Elevance Health launched a 10-year distribution partnership for group life, short-term disability and long-term disability products in 2024.[22]
  • ICON and KME Insurance Brokerage entered a 2024 partnership covering corporate and individual disability and life insurance distribution.[24]
  • Munich Re and Goodpath formed a 2024 partnership giving disability carriers in the United States and Canada access to virtual chronic-condition care.[1]
  • Pacific Life expanded its disability and supplemental-health distribution connectivity to 11 benefits-administration partners in 2024.[25]

07 Statistics

People & Workforce

Workforce data emphasizes remote and inclusion practices alongside retention. Across U.S. finance and insurance employees, 30% worked fully from home during December 2024–March 2025.

Hiring in the disability insurance industry

  • 69% of surveyed insurance companies reported recruitment goals to engage and hire diverse talent in 2021.[26]
  • 38% of small surveyed insurance companies reported recruitment goals to engage and hire diverse talent in 2021.[26]
  • 79% of large surveyed insurance companies reported recruitment goals to engage and hire diverse talent in 2021.[26]
  • 96.2% of surveyed insurance companies reported recruiting diverse talent in 2021.[27]

Employee retention in the disability insurance industry

  • 53.8% of surveyed insurance companies identified talent retention as a challenge to fostering diversity and inclusion in 2021.[27]
  • 64% of HR decision-makers said disability benefits were crucial for employee retention in a survey of employers connected to group benefits in 2024.[28]
  • 90% of surveyed HR decision-makers measured the positive impact of benefits and resources for employees with disabilities in 2024.[28]
  • 33% of surveyed HR decision-makers included retention metrics among the measures used to assess disability-related benefits and resources in 2024.[28]

Remote Work in the insurance sector (sector benchmark)

  • Across U.S. finance and insurance workers, 13.4% reported remote work in the Chicago Fed survey covering July 2021 through March 2024.[29]
  • Across U.S. insurance companies, 22% said in 2025 that most of their staff worked fully remotely.[30]
  • Across North American insurance and actuarial professionals, 89% said in 2025 they had the option to work remotely.[31]
  • Across U.S. finance and insurance employees, 30% worked fully from home during the December 2024–March 2025 survey period.[32]

Hybrid Work in the insurance sector (sector benchmark)

  • Across U.S. finance and insurance workers, 28.7% were in hybrid work environments as of September 2024.[33]
  • Among finance, insurance and real-estate employers in the United States, 55.8% were classified as fully hybrid in the 2024 NACE employer survey.[34]
  • Across 116 UK insurance companies, 19% expected their hybrid-working policy to become more restrictive in 2025.[35]
  • Across U.S. finance and insurance employees, 38% worked in hybrid arrangements during the December 2024–March 2025 survey period.[32]

Upskilling in the disability insurance industry

  • 54% of U.S. participants in the 2024 Disability Equality Index required all people managers to complete at least one disability-inclusion training course.[36]
  • 51% of 2024 Disability Equality Index participants required all people managers to complete at least one disability-inclusion training course.[36]
  • 96.3% of surveyed insurance companies reported providing diversity training in 2021.[27]
  • 92% of 2024 Disability Equality Index participants included disability-focused information in new-hire orientation.[36]

Employee Engagement in the insurance sector (sector benchmark)

  • Across U.S. employees, 33% were engaged in their work and workplace in 2023, an economy-wide benchmark relevant where insurance-specific engagement data are limited.[37]
  • Among workers newly hired into property and casualty insurance during the previous five years, about one-third valued engaging and interesting work in a 2025 poll.[33]
  • Among U.S. employees surveyed by Gallup, 16% were actively disengaged in 2023, providing an economy-wide benchmark for insurance employers.[37]
  • Across insurance employees surveyed by APQC in the first half of 2024, employee experience priorities and engagement gaps were measured across insurance organizations.[38]

DEI in the disability insurance industry

  • 66.7% of surveyed insurance companies evaluated employees’ diversity-and-inclusion performance on an ongoing basis in 2021.[27]
  • 88.9% of surveyed insurance companies offered employee resource groups in 2021.[27]
  • 64% of 2024 Disability Equality Index participants used numerical data to track progress in hiring people with disabilities.[36]
  • 92% of 2024 Disability Equality Index participants encouraged employees to self-identify as people with disabilities.[36]
  • 86% of 2024 Disability Equality Index participants had employee retention and advancement programs that included employees with disabilities.[36]

Change Management in the insurance sector (sector benchmark)

  • Across 200 global insurance executives, 73% planned to change their core insurance management technology within three years in 2025.[39]

08 Statistics

Customer & Sales

Service delivery and distribution channels influence near-term experience. In 2024, 41% of new U.S. individual disability income premium was sold through brokers.

Customer experience in the disability insurance industry

  • 25% of claim handlers identified requests for faster processing as customer feedback in the income-protection claims survey.[40]
  • 86% of U.S. employees reported satisfaction with employer-provided long-term disability coverage in the latest Benefits Benchmarking survey, according to the 2023 report.[41]
  • 85% of U.K. income-protection purchasers felt very or slightly positive about policies bought during the previous 12 months in the FCA’s 2026 research.[42]
  • 87% of U.K. consumers who bought income protection through an insurance or pension provider rated the purchase positively in the FCA’s 2026 consumer research.[42]
  • 54% of income-protection claim handlers said they wanted more customer engagement in their work, indicating a major service-improvement priority.[40]

Customer retention in the disability insurance industry

  • $19.0 billion was the combined in-force premium reported by the same participating U.S. group disability insurers for LTD, STD and PFML products in 2023.[20]
  • 4.7% was the year-over-year increase in combined in-force premium among participating U.S. group disability insurers from 2023 to 2024.[20]
  • $19.9 billion was the combined in-force premium reported by participating U.S. group disability insurers for LTD, STD and PFML products in 2024.[20]
  • 14% was the individual disability insurance industry turnover rate reported for claim analysts in Gen Re’s risk-management survey.[18]

Customer acquisition in the disability insurance industry

  • 41% of new U.S. individual disability income premium was sold through brokers in 2024, the largest reported distribution share.[11]
  • 1% of new U.S. individual disability income premium was issued through national accounts in 2024.[11]
  • 2.1% was the 2024 decline in new annualized premium for U.S. employer-sponsored multi-life disability business.[11]
  • 21% of new U.S. individual disability income premium was sold through other producers in 2024.[11]
  • 0.5% was the 2024 growth rate in new annualized premium for the individually sold U.S. individual disability income market.[11]

09 Statistics

Marketing & Brand

Interest exists but awareness gaps remain. In LIMRA’s BEAT Study, 55% of U.S. employees could say whether their employer offered disability insurance.

Marketing in the disability insurance industry

  • 36% of U.S. workers surveyed in 2021 said they were extremely interested in purchasing long-term disability insurance in the future.[43]
  • 33% of U.S. workers surveyed in 2021 said they were extremely interested in purchasing short-term disability insurance in the future.[43]
  • 31% of working U.S. adults reported having any long-term disability insurance in Policygenius’s 2024 survey.[44]
  • 51% of U.S. adults without disability insurance said their workplace offered disability coverage in Policygenius’s 2024 survey.[44]
  • 55% of U.S. employees could definitively say whether their employer offered disability insurance in LIMRA’s BEAT Study, leaving 45% unable to identify availability.[13]

Influencer Marketing in the insurance sector (sector benchmark)

  • 4.17%: Banking, finance and insurance companies’ average share of marketing budgets allocated to influencer strategies one year earlier, based on 29 surveyed companies in 2023.[45]
  • 11.62%: Banking, finance and insurance companies’ projected average share of marketing budgets allocated to influencer strategies three years later, based on 29 surveyed companies in 2023.[45]
  • 5.76%: Banking, finance and insurance companies’ average share of marketing budgets allocated to influencer strategies currently, based on 29 surveyed companies in 2023.[45]
  • 25%: European insurance undertakings reported already having a commercial relationship with social-media influencers in EIOPA’s 2023 survey of 209 undertakings.[10]
  • 8%: European insurance undertakings reported plans to establish a commercial relationship with social-media influencers soon in EIOPA’s 2023 survey of 209 undertakings.[10]

10 Statistics

Operations & Execution

Operational scale shows up in contract and persistency measures. Principal Financial Group served 2.2 million employee lives through more than 69,000 group disability contracts in the United States in 2024.

Process optimization in the disability insurance industry

  • 41% of Principal Financial Group’s group disability premium came from short-term disability products in the United States in 2024.[46]
  • 2.2 million employee lives were served through more than 69,000 group disability contracts by Principal Financial Group in the United States in 2024.[46]
  • 59% of Principal Financial Group’s group disability premium came from long-term disability products in the United States in 2024.[46]

Operational efficiency in the disability insurance industry

  • 22.5% was Unum US group disability’s other expense ratio in 2024, excluding the separate group disability operating-results presentation.[46]
  • 26.6% was MetLife’s 2024 administrative operating expense ratio for group disability insurance in the United States.[46]
  • 28.6% was Unum US group disability’s other expense ratio in 2024, measured against premium income plus other income.[46]

Quality management in the disability insurance industry

  • 90.8% was Unum US group long-term disability persistency in 2023.[46]
  • 93.3% was Unum US group long-term disability persistency in 2024.[46]
  • 91.7% was Unum US group short-term disability persistency in 2024.[46]

Outsourcing / Offshoring in the insurance sector (sector benchmark)

  • 37% of Australian insurance businesses offshored at least one function in 2026, compared with 29% in 2023.[47]
  • 79% of insurance organizations globally balanced nearshore and offshore strategic partnerships in 2025.[17]
  • 45% of Australian insurance businesses that offshore used offshore teams for document processing in 2026.[47]
  • 70% of Australian insurance businesses that offshore used offshore teams for broker support in 2026.[47]
  • 63% of Australian insurance businesses that offshore used offshore teams for administration and back-office work in 2026.[47]

11 Statistics

Finance & Pricing

Premium-per-life changes persist across long-term and short-term. Average 2024 in-force premium per life was $292.3 for group long-term disability.

Pricing strategy in the disability insurance industry

  • $292.3 was the average 2024 in-force premium per life for U.S. group long-term disability insurance among participating companies.[48]
  • 0.5% was the 2024 growth rate in new annualized premium for individually sold U.S. disability income insurance.[11]
  • -6.3% was the 2024 growth rate in new annualized premium for U.S. association disability insurance.[11]
  • 3.1% was the increase in average in-force premium per life for U.S. group short-term disability insurance from 2023 to 2024.[48]
  • $224.7 was the average 2024 in-force premium per life for U.S. group short-term disability insurance among participating companies.[48]

Cost reduction in the disability insurance industry

  • 73.3% was MetLife’s 2024 group disability benefits ratio excluding annual assumption-review impacts in the United States.[46]
  • 26.6% was MetLife’s 2024 group disability administrative operating expense ratio in the United States.[46]
  • 28.5% was Unum US group disability’s other expense ratio in 2023.[46]

Profitability in the disability insurance industry

  • 20.4% was Unum US group disability’s adjusted operating income ratio in 2023.[46]
  • $621.2 million was Unum US group disability’s adjusted operating income in 2024.[46]
  • 19.6% was Unum US group disability’s adjusted operating income ratio in 2024.[46]
  • 14.2% was Unum US group disability’s adjusted operating income ratio in 2022.[46]
  • $314 million was MetLife Group Insurance’s adjusted operating income in 2024; the segment includes group disability insurance.[46]

Financial planning in the disability insurance industry

  • $2.086 billion was Unum US group long-term disability adjusted operating revenue in 2024.[46]
  • $3.17 billion was Unum US group disability total premium income in 2024.[46]
  • $1.084 billion was Unum US group short-term disability adjusted operating revenue in 2024.[46]
  • $973.5 million was Unum US group disability other expenses in 2024.[46]
  • $311.2 million was Unum US group disability net investment income in 2024.[46]

12 Statistics

Product & Service

Non-cancelable business dominates both in-force and new sales. Noncancelable policies represented 85% of $5.6 billion in-force premium in 2025.

Product development in the disability insurance industry

  • 86% of U.S. individual disability new-sales premium came from noncancelable products in 2025.[18]
  • 13% of U.S. individual disability new-sales premium came from guaranteed-renewable products in 2025.[18]
  • 44% of U.S. individual disability new-sales premium came from medical occupations in 2025.[18]
  • $105.5 million was new guaranteed-standard-issue premium reported by U.S. individual disability carriers in 2025, up 30.9% from 2024.[18]
  • $423 million was the 2024 new annualized premium reported by 12 U.S. individual disability-income insurers.[19]

Product lifecycle in the disability insurance industry

  • 3.8% was the lapse rate for noncancelable U.S. individual disability policies with lifetime benefits in the 2000–2007 study period.[49]
  • 10.2% was the lapse rate for guaranteed-renewable U.S. individual disability policies with benefits to age 65 in the 2000–2007 study period.[49]
  • 3.7% was the lapse rate for noncancelable U.S. individual disability policies with elimination periods of 30 days or less in the 2000–2007 study period.[49]
  • 9.1% was the average lapse rate for guaranteed-renewable U.S. individual disability policies in the 2000–2007 study period.[49]
  • 6.2% was the average lapse rate for noncancelable U.S. individual disability policies in the 2000–2007 study period.[49]

After-sales in the disability insurance industry

  • 38% of initial U.S. disability claims were allowed in fiscal year 2024.[50]
  • 2,264,400 U.S. Social Security Disability Insurance claims were processed in fiscal year 2024.[50]
  • 767,224 U.S. disabled-worker benefits were terminated during 2024.[50]
  • 15.1 minutes was the average speed of answer on the U.S. Social Security Administration's National 800 Number in fiscal year 2025.[50]
  • 2,260,600 U.S. Social Security Disability Insurance claims were received in fiscal year 2024.[50]

Value proposition in the disability insurance industry

  • $793.7 million was guaranteed-renewable U.S. individual disability in-force premium in 2025.[18]
  • $545.3 million was guaranteed-standard-issue in-force premium reported by U.S. disability carriers in 2025, up 8.2% from 2024.[18]
  • $5.6 billion was total in-force premium reported by U.S. individual disability carriers for 2025.[18]
  • 50% of U.S. individual disability in-force premium came from medical occupations in 2025.[18]
  • $4.7 billion was noncancelable U.S. individual disability in-force premium in 2025.[18]

13 Statistics

Sustainability & Ethics

Sustainability disclosure and governance constraints show up in survey results. KPMG’s 2024 EMA survey found 44% of insurance-sector respondents lacked sufficient resources to manage ESG governance effectively.

Sustainability in the disability insurance industry

  • 24.3% was the year-over-year increase in Zurich Insurance Group’s sustainable-solutions revenue in 2025, rising from $1.7 billion in 2024.[51]
  • 84% of German primary insurers’ investments were subject to investment exclusions in 2025, up from 74% in the previous year.[52]
  • 63% of investments used ESG-integration approaches among German primary insurers in 2025, according to the German Insurance Association’s sector sustainability report.[52]
  • $2.1 billion in sustainable-solutions revenue was reported by Zurich Insurance Group in 2025, equal to 2.3% of total gross written premiums, fees and net flows globally.[51]

ESG in the disability insurance industry

  • 33% of insurance-sector respondents said their ESG strategies were mainly focused on compliance in KPMG’s 2024 EMA survey.[53]
  • Only a small minority of insurers disclosed insurance-associated emissions in the 2024 reporting-cycle review by KPMG.[53]
  • 44% of insurance-sector respondents said they lacked sufficient resources to manage ESG governance effectively in KPMG’s 2024 EMA survey.[53]
  • More than half of insurers disclosed social risks, impacts and opportunities in the 2024 insurance sustainability-disclosure review by KPMG.[53]

Ethics in the disability insurance industry

  • 6 environment, health and safety integrity concerns were received by Zurich Insurance Group globally in 2025.[51]
  • 66 policy-and-process integrity concerns were received by Zurich Insurance Group globally in 2025.[51]
  • 34% was the substantiation rate for integrity concerns closed by Zurich Insurance Group in 2025.[51]
  • 359 integrity concerns were received globally by Zurich Insurance Group in 2025, including 215 employee matters, 16 financial matters and 66 policy-and-process matters.[51]
  • 53 misuse or misappropriation of assets or information concerns were received by Zurich Insurance Group globally in 2025.[51]

Carbon footprint in the disability insurance industry

  • 44 metric tons of CO₂ per €1 million invested was the 2025 carbon footprint reported for shares, corporate bonds and real estate held by German primary insurers.[52]
  • 20% was the reported increase in German insurers’ Scope 3 emissions in 2025, attributed partly to improved data.[52]
  • 6.4% was the year-over-year reduction in German primary insurers’ investment carbon footprint in 2025, from 47 to 44 metric tons of CO₂ per €1 million invested.[52]

15 Statistics

Globalization & Expansion

International activity includes UK and Poland operations. Unum reported $949.5 million of premium income from international operations in the United Kingdom and Poland in 2024.

Globalization in the disability insurance industry

  • 37% of surveyed consumers in South Africa held AD&D insurance policies in the 2024 global insurance-demand survey.[49]
  • 11% of surveyed consumers in Japan held AD&D insurance policies in the 2024 global insurance-demand survey.[49]
  • $949.5 million was Unum’s 2024 premium income from international operations in the United Kingdom and Poland.[46]
  • 54% of surveyed consumers in Taiwan held AD&D insurance policies in the 2024 global insurance-demand survey.[49]
  • 48% of surveyed consumers in China held AD&D insurance policies in the 2024 global insurance-demand survey.[49]

Cultural adaptation in the disability insurance industry

  • 46% of surveyed consumers in Singapore held AD&D insurance policies in the 2024 global insurance-demand survey.[49]
  • 59% of surveyed consumers in Taiwan held health insurance and 54% held AD&D insurance in the 2024 global insurance-demand survey.[49]
  • 16% of surveyed consumers in South Korea held AD&D insurance policies in the 2024 global insurance-demand survey.[49]
  • 40% of surveyed consumers in Malaysia held AD&D insurance policies in the 2024 global insurance-demand survey.[49]
  • 46% of surveyed consumers in Indonesia held AD&D insurance policies in the 2024 global insurance-demand survey.[49]

Stakeholder management in the disability insurance industry

  • $3.4 billion of individual long-term-care reserves and $120 million of individual disability in-force premium were ceded by Unum to Fortitude Re in 2025.[20]
  • 4.8 million people were covered by Elevance Health’s life and disability business across 14 U.S. states before its 2024 divestiture.[62]
  • 153 countries had a social-insurance scheme providing statutory disability cash benefits in 2024.[63]
  • Disability cash-benefit coverage rates were below 20% across parts of Latin America, Southern Asia and most of Africa in 2024.[63]

Distribution channels in the disability insurance industry

  • 37% of new annualized individual disability premium was sold through career agents in the United States in 2024.[11]
  • 36% of new annualized individual disability premium was sold through career agents in the United States in 2023.[11]
  • 1% of new annualized individual disability premium was sold through national accounts in the United States in 2024.[11]
  • 21% of new annualized individual disability premium was sold through other producers in the United States in 2024.[11]
  • 41% of new annualized individual disability premium was sold through brokers in the United States in 2024.[11]

Key questions about the Disability Insurance Industry

How large is the U.S. disability insurance market?
Disability-income premiums totaled $29.39 billion in 2024. Surveyed group plans held $19.9 billion of in-force premium in 2024.
How fast is the market growing?
In 2024, long-term disability premium increased 4.2% while covered lives rose 0.7%. In the same year, short-term disability premium increased 5.2% while covered lives rose 2.0%.
What technology shifts are appearing in underwriting or claims?
In 2026, 90% of participating group disability carriers reported AI played no role in underwriting decisions. LLM-based medical-information summarization was the only AI application currently reported in use by participating group disability carriers in 2026.
What does market concentration look like in individual disability?
The five largest groups in NAIC individual long-term disability-income premiums accounted for 76.80% of the 2024 market. Northwestern Mutual led with 25.08%, followed by Unum at 15.25%.
How many claims and policy actions show up in recent public and insurer reporting?
The NAIC reported 8.6 million disabled beneficiaries nationally in December 2024. During 2024, 594,749 disabled-worker awards were recorded and 767,224 disabled-worker benefits were terminated.
Reference

Cite This Report

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APA
Thomas Lindqvist. (2026, February 13). Disability Insurance Industry Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/disability-insurance-industry-statistics
MLA
Thomas Lindqvist. "Disability Insurance Industry Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/disability-insurance-industry-statistics.
Chicago
Thomas Lindqvist. 2026. "Disability Insurance Industry Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/disability-insurance-industry-statistics.

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