The Health Insurance Authority has said there was a reduction of 29,000 in the number of people insured with an inpatient health insurance policy in the second quarter of 2011.
It says this continues the gradual fall in the number of people with private health insurance since the beginning of 2009.
As a result, the percentage of the population with inpatient health insurance now stands at just over 47%.
There are also 107,000 people with products providing solely outpatient benefits, or cash plans.
