The insurance standard is effective for annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2023, with early application permitted for entities that apply IFRS 9 Financial Instruments on or before the date of initial application of IFRS 17. It was originally expected to come into force in 2021 but was delayed by two years.

IFRS 17 is a significant new accounting standard for the insurance sector and represents the first comprehensive international accounting standard that can be applied to all types of insurance contracts, aiming to ensure that entities provide relevant information that represents those contracts.