Google Searches for “Insurance” Hit Record High and Stay 2× Above Average

Google searches for insurance have hit record highs, driven by growing geopolitical and economic tensions and rising risks. But unlike previous peaks, this surge isn’t fading, pointing to a bigger change in how consumers view insurance policies.

According to data from Insuranceopedia.com, search interest peaked at 100 in March before falling to 86 in April, which is still more than double its decade-long average.

Insurance Searches Spiked More in Three Months of 2026 Than in All of 2025

For nearly a decade, Google searches for insurance were quite predictable. There were usual seasonal spikes occasionally interrupted by unexpected events, with search interest floating between 40 and 54 points for most of that time.

In fact, until now, there had been only one major spike in search interest, between December 2018 and September 2019, triggered by a perfect storm of rising premiums, major natural disasters, and a tightening insurance market. But that spike was nothing compared to what the insurance market is seeing now.

The shift started in mid-2025 when rising health and car premiums, growing cyber risks, and another year of climate losses over $100 billion made insurance more expensive and harder to ignore. By early 2026, the pressure reached a tipping point, as tensions around Iran, shipping disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, and unstable energy prices pushed both risk concerns and insurance searches to record highs.

According to Google Trends data, search interest in insurance jumped 19 points between January and February 2026, rising from 74 to 97 in just 30 days. By March, it peaked at 100, reaching the highest level on record and bringing the two-month increase to a striking 26 points.

That means Google searches for insurance spiked more in just three months of 2026 than in the entire 2025, when they jumped by 24 points. Also, that`s twice the previous increase of 13 points in 2018/2019, which happened over nine months.

Although Google searches in insurance peaked across all major categories at the same time, each one behaved differently. The data show life insurance led the trend, rising steadily from mid-2025, while car and home insurance saw much sharper spikes, nearly doubling in just three months. However, the differences became even clearer after the peak, with car insurance searches falling the fastest, and life insurance staying closest to its pre-2026 levels.

People Are Searching for Insurance More Than Other Risk-Related Terms

The wider comparison of insurance and other risk-related searches only proves how strong this shift is.  Google searches for insurance jumped from 74 in January to a peak of 100 in March and are still holding at 86, even as other risk signals cool.

Inflation and war followed a very similar trend, both hitting a peak of 100 before dropping to 79 and 62, while cyberattack searches look more like a classic spike-and-fade, surging from 31 to 100 before sliding back to 43 over the past four months. So unlike inflation, war, and cyberattacks, insurance interest sticks, even after the panic fades.