CAUSES OF LOW INSURANCE PENETRATION IN INDIA

  • Unique Paper ID: 199836
  • Volume: 12
  • Issue: 11
  • PageNo: 14354-14368
  • Abstract:
  • India, despite being the world’s fifth-largest economy and home to over 1.4 billion people, continues to exhibit critically low insurance penetration — standing at approximately 4.2% of GDP as of 2023, compared to the global average of 6.3%. This paper investigates the multidimensional causes behind this persistent gap, drawing on both secondary data from IRDAI, Swiss Re Sigma reports, and published academic literature, as well as primary survey data collected from 100 respondents across urban, semi-urban, and rural areas of India. The study formulates and tests six research hypotheses pertaining to awareness, affordability, trust, education, digital access, and government scheme awareness. The integrated analysis reveals that low financial literacy, inadequate income levels, trust deficits, poor rural distribution infrastructure, and deeply ingrained cultural attitudes toward risk are the primary impediments. The paper concludes with evidence-based policy recommendations aimed at enhancing insurance outreach, improving product accessibility, and fostering a culture of financial protection.

Copyright & License

Copyright © 2026 Authors retain the copyright of this article. This article is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

BibTeX

@article{199836,
        author = {Kartik Jain and Manthan Sharma and Harshita Sahu and Sahil Sharma},
        title = {CAUSES OF LOW INSURANCE PENETRATION IN INDIA},
        journal = {International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology},
        year = {2026},
        volume = {12},
        number = {11},
        pages = {14354-14368},
        issn = {2349-6002},
        url = {https://ijirt.org/article?manuscript=199836},
        abstract = {India, despite being the world’s fifth-largest economy and home to over 1.4 billion people, continues to exhibit critically low insurance penetration — standing at approximately 4.2% of GDP as of 2023, compared to the global average of 6.3%. This paper investigates the multidimensional causes behind this persistent gap, drawing on both secondary data from IRDAI, Swiss Re Sigma reports, and published academic literature, as well as primary survey data collected from 100 respondents across urban, semi-urban, and rural areas of India.
The study formulates and tests six research hypotheses pertaining to awareness, affordability, trust, education, digital access, and government scheme awareness. The integrated analysis reveals that low financial literacy, inadequate income levels, trust deficits, poor rural distribution infrastructure, and deeply ingrained cultural attitudes toward risk are the primary impediments. The paper concludes with evidence-based policy recommendations aimed at enhancing insurance outreach, improving product accessibility, and fostering a culture of financial protection.},
        keywords = {Insurance Penetration, Financial Literacy, Trust Deficit, Affordability, Risk Management, Insurance Awareness, India, Financial Inclusion, Rural Distribution,},
        month = {April},
        }

Cite This Article

Jain, K., & Sharma, M., & Sahu, H., & Sharma, S. (2026). CAUSES OF LOW INSURANCE PENETRATION IN INDIA. International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology (IJIRT), 12(11), 14354–14368.

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