Breakdown and Profile of Insurance Agents in Labour Force Each Year from 2010 to 2020
Prime Minister's OfficeSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns Mr Patrick Tay Teck Guan’s inquiry regarding the size and demographic profile of the insurance agent workforce between 2010 and 2020. Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam stated that the number of agents has remained stable at approximately 19,000 since 2015, with Singapore Citizens making up 90% of the force. He noted that most agents are below 40 years old, the gender balance is even, and data on employment status or academic qualifications is not tracked beyond entry requirements. Life insurance agents must minimally hold a polytechnic diploma or GCE "A" levels, while general insurance agents require at least three GCE "O" level passes. These requirements reflect the higher complexity of life insurance products, which necessitates more stringent minimum academic qualifications compared to general insurance.
Transcript
1 Mr Patrick Tay Teck Guan asked the Prime Minister for each of the years from 2010 to 2020 (a) how many people in the labour force are working as insurance agents; and (b) what is the breakdown for such persons in terms of full-time employment, part-time employment, educational qualification, age, gender and nationality.
Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam (for the Prime Minister): The number of insurance agents – comprising life, general, and composite1 – rose in the first half of the last decade, but has remained stable at around 19,000 since 2015. The breakdown by age, gender, and nationality over time, are available only for life and composite insurance agents. The majority of agents are below 40 years old. The gender balance is very even. Singapore Citizens make up about 90% of the agency force, with Permanent Residents making up most of the rest; the number of foreigners remains small at about 350.
The requested statistics for insurance agents are set out in the tables below.
The latest statistics on general and composite insurance agents by age and gender is set out below2.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the General Insurance Association of Singapore (GIA) do not make a distinction between full-time or part-time insurance agents and do not collect information on academic qualifications. Life insurance agents must minimally have a GCE "A" level certificate or an International Baccalaureate Diploma qualification or a diploma awarded by a polytechnic in Singapore, or equivalent qualifications. General insurance agents are required to have at least 3 GCE "O" Level passes or equivalent. Life insurance agents have higher minimum academic qualification requirements than general insurance agents as life insurance products are typically more complex in nature.