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Dhipaya Life Insurance (under Dhipaya Group Holdings) launches two new life insurance products targeting Thailand's aging society, expanding its product offering to drive sales.
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US annuity sales set a first-half record of $228.7 billion, up 1% from the prior-year period, according to LIMRA. Total second-quarter annuity sales reached $121.2 billion, up 2% year over year, the 11th consecutive quarter above $100 billion. Within that total, registered index-linked annuity sales rose 22% to $23.3 billion, traditional variable annuity sales jumped 24% to $17.7 billion, and single-premium immediate annuity sales hit a record $4.1 billion. The broader life market showed similar momentum, with S&P Global Market Intelligence reporting US life premiums up 7.7% year over year in the second quarter and individual life premiums up 4.1%, while LIMRA said the individual life policy count rose 8%. Against that backdrop, Zacks named Prudential Financial, Principal Financial Group and MetLife as three life insurers to watch, each carrying a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold); Prudential posted $3.6 billion in retail annuity sales in the second quarter, Principal reported transfer deposits of $9 billion, up 30%, and MetLife's Retirement and Income Solutions segment generated $377 million in adjusted earnings.
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Thai Chamber of Commerce says average household debt surges to 790,000 baht, highest in 18 years
The Center for Economic and Business Forecasting at the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce released the results of its survey on the state of Thai household debt for 2026, finding that average household debt stood at 794,945.49 baht per household, up 7.3%, the highest level since the survey began in 2009, or in 18 years. Of this, 77.2% was formal debt and 22.8% informal. Total monthly repayments came to 21,935.3 baht, up 8.11%. Umakamol Sunthonsurat, assistant director of the Center for Economic and Business Forecasting, said more than half of Thai households lack sufficient emergency savings and that the savings trend continues to decline, with 27.8% of respondents saying they had never saved and 42.6% saying they had not saved compared with the previous year. Thanavath Phonvichai, president of the university and chairman of the advisory board of the Center for Economic and Business Forecasting, said older people who have retired and have no steady income still carry average debt of nearly 300,000 baht, reflecting that Thais cannot ease their debt burden even 10 years after retirement, and that only about 14% of people manage to save according to plan before retirement. The center also maintained its forecast for Thai GDP in 2026 at 2.0-2.5%, supported by agriculture, tourism, with foreign arrivals expected to average 3 million a month and generate 150 billion baht a month, and exports expanding 15-20%. The ratio of household debt to GDP is expected to continue falling, reaching 84% within 2026.
NESDC warns of 3 fiscal risks, urges balance between discipline and welfare
Danucha Pichayanan, Secretary-General of the National Economic and Social Development Council, or NESDC, disclosed that Thailand is facing three fiscal risks that must be watched, noting that fiscal space has shrunk to only 3-4%, and that the large budget cuts for fiscal year 2027 reflect the drawdown of fiscal space during 2023-2024. The first risk is rising public debt, which has climbed from 41.1% of GDP before COVID to 67.5% of GDP at present. The second risk is government revenue collection, with net government revenue to GDP falling from 16.7% in 2016 to 15% in 2025, which is low compared with OECD countries, and an aging society could reduce personal tax collection. The third risk is government spending, with persistent deficits and borrowing of several hundred billion baht each year, while many expenditure items are committed obligations and therefore hard to cut. Danucha proposed three principles to build long-term fiscal strength: prioritizing long-term fiscal management to boost productivity; aligning the social welfare system with target groups by linking data between agencies; and broadening the state's revenue base to be more comprehensive and bring more people into the tax system. He stressed that it should not be a choice between fiscal discipline and social welfare, but that welfare must be designed to care for the people on a fiscally sustainable foundation over the long term.