Applications for life insurance in North America took a positive turn in September posting a 2.2% increase over 2002 levels, marking only the second month of year-over-year application growth for all 2003.

Application activity in the U.S. and Canada increased 1.9% and 4.4% respectively when compared to the same period last year.

September’s jump in applications failed to offset a disappointing July and August; third quarter results show an overall decline in the U.S. of 2.1%, with Canadian quarterly activity declining 2% from Q3 2002.

Growth of life insurance applications in the 60+ age group continued at a breakneck pace. September marked the fourth straight month where the MIB Life Index posted a “highest-ever” recorded value for a given monthly time period.

Age 60+ application activity in the U.S. showed a 13.5% year-over- year increase in September with third quarter results up 10% compared to Q3 2002.

In the 0-44 age group, third quarter performance lagged that of 2002 by more than 5%.

In Canada, applications in the 60+ age group increased 19% over September 2002 levels which were predominantly influenced by the strong performance of a few large Canadian insurers.