Date: For Parliament Sitting on 2 April 2024
Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament
Mr Patrick Tay Teck Guan, MP, Pioneer SMC
Question:
To ask the Prime Minister (a) for each of the years from 2021 to 2023, 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.
Answer by Mr Lawrence Wong, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, and Chairman of MAS:
1. The number of insurance agents declined over the past 3 years. The number of life and composite insurance agents was 15,205 in 2021,14,546 in 2022, and 13,934 in 2023.The number of general insurance agents during this period was 4,105, 3,915 and 3,777 respectively.
2. Age, gender and nationality breakdown are only available for life and composite insurance agents. The majority are 40 years and below. Please see the Table below. There is an even distribution of male and female agents. About 90% of the agents are Singapore citizens, and the rest are mostly permanent residents.
Number of life and composite insurance agents by age
| Year |
21 to 30 years old |
31 to 40 years old |
41 to 50 years old |
51 to 60 years old |
Above 60 years old |
Total |
| 2021 |
4,735 |
4,499 |
2,472 |
2,127 |
1,372 |
15,205 |
| 2022 |
4,101 |
4,443 |
2,471 |
2,102 |
1,429 |
14,546 |
| 2023 |
3,773 |
4,207 |
2,428 |
2,048 |
1,478 |
13,934 |
3. 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 employment insurance agents and do not collect information on academic qualification, but all agents have to meet the minimum education qualification requirements.
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