Recently, insurance regulator IRDAI chairman Debashish Panda reiterated the need for deepening insurance penetration in the country. Put simply, insurance penetration is measured as a percentage of total premiums collected to the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). It is one of the parameters used to assess the level of development of the insurance sector in a country. In 2021-22, insurance penetration in India stood at 4.2 percent (life insurance penetration at 3.2 percent and general insurance, including health, at 1 percent). This is quite low when compared to other developed economies such as the US and Canada (11.4 percent) and advanced Europe, Middle-east and African regions (8 percent).