Life insurance sales have continued to grow, with both inforce annual premiums and new business recording strong results for the 12 months ending September.

According to research house Dexx&r, inforce annual premiums were up 10.92% to $9.6 billion while new premiums grew by 11.05% to $2.2 billion for the year.

Group life insurance premiums were the strong performer during the 12 months with the inforce sector up 13% and new business up 14.99%.

AIA Australia continues to be the market leader in the group life insurance market with a 25% market share of inforce premiums and 31.3% share of new business premiums.

The big winner for group new business sales was Metlife, up 566% during the 12 months ending September. It had new annual premiums of $151 million, lifting its market share from 3.38% in September 2010 to 19.58% a year later.

Metlife’s gain has been at the expense of TAL, CommInsure and OnePath, which all recorded falls in new business premiums, down 52.25%, 1% and 8% respectively.

The combined businesses of AMP and Axa have given it overall market dominance in both annual inforce and new business premiums.

The combined business now holds a 16.52% market share of inforce annual premiums, compared to its nearest rival MLC with 15.18%.

AMP and Axa now hold a 14.28% market share in new annual premiums, with TAL following with a 13.85% share.