Why millennials and Gen Zs are walking away from insurance

Joy Agwunobi 

For decades, insurance has positioned itself as society’s financial shock absorber, a promise of protection against life’s uncertainties. From health emergencies and accidents to property loss and death, the industry has long sold reassurance and stability. However, beneath this enduring narrative lies a growing disconnect. 

In Nigeria and across global markets,  particularly among younger generations, trust in insurance is eroding. Millennials and Gen Zs, who should represent the industry’s future growth engine, increasingly view insurance as opaque, complicated and misaligned with their realities.

According to an insight from the World Economic Forum (WEF), the defining challenge facing insurers today is no longer headline growth or product expansion, but whether new business models can restore trust, close the widening protection gap and reconnect with a generation that has grown deeply sceptical of insurance itself.

WEF notes that insurance is evolving rapidly, with embedded insurance  coverage integrated directly into everyday products and services  projected to account for nearly one-third of all insurance produc

Joy Agwunobi