22,305 agents certified this year, down 27.5% in a year — second consecutive annual decline

Certification pool grew 15–18%, but certification rates fell to 9.5% for life insurance, 6.9% for non-life

Stricter criteria include policy retention rate requirements

A billboard promoting top-certified life insurance agents. [Provided by reader]
A billboard promoting top-certified life insurance agents. [Provided by reader]

Even as the overall number of insurance agents has grown, the ranks of top-certified agents have shrunk for the second consecutive year. The decline reflects tighter certification standards introduced this year, including a shift to evaluating agents based on policy retention rates that consumers can verify directly.

According to the Korea Life Insurance Association and the General Insurance Association of Korea, the number of top-certified agents this year stands at 22,305 — 11,460 in life insurance and 10,845 in non-life. That is down 8,473, or 27.5%, from the previous year's 30,778. The figure peaked at 33,469 in 2024 and has now fallen for two straight years.

The pool of agents eligible for certification, however, expanded sharply. The number of eligible life insurance agents — those exclusively affiliated with insurers or subsidiary general agencies — rose 15.3%, from 104,504 at end-2024 to 120,468 at end-2025. Eligible non-life agents grew 17.7%, from 133,078 to 156,604 over the same period. With the eligible pool expanding while certified numbers fell, the certification rate was limited to 9.5% for life insurance and 6.9% for non-life. The life insurance certification rate dropped from 16.5% in 2024 to its lowest level in the past five years.

The top-certified agent designation is a program the two associations have operated since 2008. To qualify, an agent must have been registered with the current firm for at least three years, maintain a 13th-installment policy retention rate of at least 90% and a 25th-installment rate of at least 80%, have zero cases of incomplete or improper sales, and earn an annual income of at least 40 million won ($29,900) for life insurance or 50 million won for non-life in the prior year. Certification is valid for one year.

The drop in certified agents reflects a change in how retention rates are assessed. Starting this year, both associations began applying retention rate data from the e-Clean Insurance Service platform when evaluating agents. By incorporating 13th- and 25th-installment retention rates as formal criteria, the associations strengthened the certification bar while improving objectivity and transparency. "The total number of certified agents declined as stricter standards were applied compared to before," the associations said.

The non-life insurance sector saw the steeper decline. The number of top-certified non-life agents fell 41.8% over two years, from 18,635 in 2024 to 10,845 this year. After dropping 2,675, or 14.4%, last year, the sector shed another 5,115, or 32.0%, this year. In life insurance, the count was nearly flat last year — down just 16 — before falling 3,358, or 22.7%, this year.

Agents who cleared the bar tend to be experienced and older. The average tenure of this year's certified agents is 17.7 years in life insurance and 19.3 years in non-life. Average age rose to 58.0 in life insurance and 58.2 in non-life, up 0.9 and 1.4 years, respectively, from a year earlier. Average annual income for certified life insurance agents reached 142.63 million won, up 50.6% from 94.71 million won in 2022, while the non-life figure came in at 120.05 million won, up 3 million won from the prior year's 117.05 million won. The average 13th-installment retention rate was 97.4% for life insurance and 95.8% for non-life. The 25th-installment rate was 91.0% for life insurance and 88.2% for non-life, down 4.3 percentage points and 4.0 percentage points, respectively, from the previous year.

Despite the smaller certified pool, the associations said they expect "consumer trust in top-certified agents to increase further." Consumers can check whether an agent holds the certification through the Korea Life Insurance Association's top-certified agent website or the General Insurance Association of Korea's "Hall of Fame."


won@heraldcorp.com