In Canada, the number of applications for individual life insurance policies decilined by 1.9% in 2005 compared to 2004, according to the MIB Life Index, whereas in the United States, application activity was down by 3.4%.

In total, North American applications were down by 3.3% for all ages compared to 2004. When combined with the downturn in activity in 04/03 (-2.3%) and 03/02 (-3.0%), the industry is experiencing a three-year decline in applications in excess of 8.0%.

However, while application activity is on the decline, aggregate premiums and average face amounts of new individual life policies are increasing industry-wide, notes the MIB Life Index report.

"Our data show that activity in the 60 plus age demographic is slowly crowding out application activity at the younger ages. This is another manifestation that the middle and lower end of the market continues to remain underserved by current distribution and product designs," says Stacy Gill., MIB's chief knowledge officer.