According to data from the Portuguese Insurers Association (APS), insurance distribution in Portugal is undergoing a transformation driven mainly by the recomposition of intermediaries, and not by the replacement of intermediation by digital channels. Direct sales, which includes digital channels, represents no more than 7% of total sales, with internet sales accounting for only 1% of the market.
CTT has emerged as the most notable case of this transformation. In just two years, CTT's market share in the Life segment went from 0.3% to 4.2%, meaning growth from 15 million euros in sales to 344 million euros. This change was due to the strategic partnership with Generali Tranquilidade, launched at the end of 2023, which allowed CTT and Banco CTT to market Life and Non-Life products. In 2025, the partnership entered a scale phase with new savings and investment product launches, and Generali Tranquilidade sold 483 million euros in unit linked and capital guaranteed products through this channel, 273 million more than in 2024.
Banks continue to dominate Life insurance distribution, representing 72% of the market in 2025, almost three in every four euros distributed through this channel. However, agents remain the channel with the highest weight in the total market, concentrating 33.1% of distribution in 2025, although they have lost 3.1 percentage points since 2023, mainly in the Life segment. Brokers maintain a strong presence in Non-Life with 26.1% market share, but have lost weight in the total market.
The internet doubled its share in the total market from 0.5% to 1.0% between 2023 and 2025, a significant evolution in relative terms but still small in absolute terms. Insurers' own physical channels have lost consistent importance, while telephone has stabilized with a slight loss of share. The conclusion is that digitalization has not yet led to the abandonment of traditional channels, with intermediaries (banks, agents, brokers, and CTT) concentrating 93.8% of total distribution.
