Annuity Statistics (2026)

Annuities are having a moment. US retail annuity sales rose 7% in 2025 to a record $464.1 billion, according to LIMRA's survey covering 93% of the market. It was the fourth consecutive year of record sales, and the fourth quarter alone topped $117.2 billion.

That capped an extraordinary run: 2025 marked the ninth straight quarter above $100 billion in sales. Higher interest rates, market volatility, and a wave of retiring baby boomers have all pushed savers toward products that promise protected income.

Annuity sales have nearly doubled in six years. From $241.7 billion in 2019, the market dipped during COVID, then surged: up 16% in 2021, 22% in 2022, and 23% in 2023 before settling into slower record-setting growth (see the chart and table below).

The 2022 total of $310.6 billion shattered the prior peak set back in 2008. Each of the four years from 2022 through 2025 has since set a new all-time high, a streak driven mostly by fixed and indexed products rather than the variable annuities that led earlier cycles.

Annuities are not one product but several. In 2025, fixed-rate deferred annuities led at $165.3 billion, followed by fixed indexed ($127.9B), registered index-linked or RILA ($79.5B), and traditional variable annuities ($63.1B) (see the chart and table below).

The pure-income products are a much smaller slice: single premium immediate annuities (SPIAs) were $14.4 billion and deferred income annuities (DIAs) $4.8 billion. So the vast majority of "annuity" sales are accumulation products, not the lifetime-income contracts many people picture.

Growth is uneven across the lineup. In 2025, RILA sales jumped 20%, variable rose 8%, and both fixed-rate deferred and immediate annuities gained about 6%, while fixed indexed inched up just 1% and deferred income annuities slipped 3% (see the chart and table below).

The 2024-to-2025 shift shows RILA adding nearly $14 billion while fixed indexed was essentially flat. Registered products, which link returns to markets with a buffer or floor, are taking share from the plain fixed-rate contracts that boomed when rates first spiked.

Fixed-rate deferred annuities, which work like a multi-year CD from an insurer, are now the single largest category at $165.3 billion in 2025, up 6%. Their appeal is simple: a locked-in guaranteed rate with tax deferral, which became compelling once interest rates rose sharply.

These products came almost out of nowhere as a mass-market bestseller. Fixed-rate deferred sales were a fraction of today's level before 2022, then exploded as savers moved cash out of low-yielding accounts to lock in higher guaranteed yields.

The center of gravity has shifted to indexed products. Combined, registered index-linked and fixed indexed annuities made up about 45% of all 2025 sales, up from roughly 24% market share a decade ago. They offer market-linked upside with downside protection, which resonated after 2022's stock and bond selloff.

Fixed indexed annuities alone were $127.9 billion in 2025, a fifth straight record year. The category's steady climb reflects demand for products that participate in market gains up to a cap while shielding principal from losses.

Registered index-linked annuities are the industry's breakout story. RILA sales hit $79.5 billion in 2025, up 20%, marking an eleventh consecutive year of growth and roughly a 10x increase over the past decade. LIMRA projects RILA sales to exceed $85 billion in 2026.

RILAs differ from fixed indexed annuities by using a "buffer" or "floor" that absorbs some, not all, losses in exchange for higher upside potential. That risk-managed profile has made them the product of choice among broker-dealers and younger pre-retirees.

The products that actually convert savings into a guaranteed paycheck are the smallest slice. Single premium immediate annuities, which start payments right away, were $14.4 billion in 2025 (up 6%), while deferred income annuities were just $4.8 billion (down 3%).

Together, true income annuities are under 5% of the market, even though longevity protection is the feature economists most praise. Most buyers use annuities to accumulate and defer taxes first, then may convert to income later rather than buying a lifetime-income contract up front.

Beyond annual sales sits a large installed base. About $2.5 trillion was held in annuities outside retirement plans as of year-end 2024, per Investment Company Institute data, part of a broader annuity asset base estimated above $3 trillion across all product types (see the table below).

For scale, total US retirement assets were $45.1 trillion at the end of 2024, led by $17.0 trillion in IRAs and $10.6 trillion in private-sector defined-contribution plans. Life insurers, which issue annuities, hold about $9.3 trillion in total assets.

Despite record sales, annuity ownership is far from universal. Only about 4.8% of US households, roughly 6.3 million, own at least one annuity, based on Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances data analyzed for the Department of Labor (see the table below).

Ownership is heavily concentrated among older, retired households: about two-thirds of owning households are age 65 or older. Even among retirement-age households, only roughly 11-12% own an annuity, and fewer still rely on one as a primary income source.

The typical annuity owner is older and solidly middle-income, not wealthy. Owners average about age 70 and first bought at around 51, with a median household income near $64,000 and 80% earning under $100,000 a year; about 65% are retired and 51% are female (see the table below).

These owner-profile figures come from a Gallup survey commissioned by the Committee of Annuity Insurers and are dated (2013 vintage), so treat them as directional. Still, they consistently show annuities as a middle-class retirement tool rather than a product for the ultra-wealthy.

Distribution has shifted toward independent sellers. In the most recent full-year channel data (2023), independent agents and broker-dealers together represented about 41% of sales and grew 29% year over year, outpacing banks and captive agents (see the table below).

The mix varies by product: independent channels drove more than 74% of fixed indexed sales, while registered index-linked annuities flowed largely through independent broker-dealers (over half) with banks adding about 17%. Complex, market-linked products tend to sell through advised channels.

Annuities are not just an inflow story. Life insurers paid a record $110 billion in annuity benefits in 2024, the most ever, as more contracts moved into the payout phase and boomers began drawing income (ACLI).

On the intake side, annuity premiums (considerations) reported by insurers totaled about $361 billion in 2023, up nearly 3% over 2022. The gap between premiums collected and benefits paid reflects an industry still in a strong accumulation phase.

Three forces drove the surge: higher interest rates that made guaranteed products attractive, market volatility that boosted demand for protection, and Peak 65, the roughly 4.1 million Americans turning 65 each year through 2027. Many lack a pension, so they buy annuities to manufacture one.

Annuities can be a useful tool for guaranteed income and tax deferral, but they carry surrender charges, fees, and complexity, and money in an annuity is less liquid than in a brokerage account. For most people, they are one piece of a diversified plan, not a substitute for low-cost investing. This is general information, not financial advice.