Variable annuity sales dropped 1.5 percent to $142.8 billion in 2012 from $145 billion in the previous year while sales of fixed annuities headed briskly in the other direction, climbing 16.6 percent to $78.1 billion from $67 billion in 2012, according to figures released by the Insured Retirement Institute Thursday.

Beacon Research, which helped crunch the numbers for the report, attributed the strong performance for fixed annuities to average increases in credited rates of 40 points and, for the first time, year-over-year increases in sales of all types of fixed product lines.

Of fixed-annuity categories, market-value annuities zipped along the fastest at a 41.4 percent increase for 2013 to $6.7 billion.

In another niche of the annuity market, income annuity sales peaked above $3 billion for the first year, ending at $3.5 billion for 2013.

IRI President and CEO Catherine Weatherford said that as baby boomers retire and look for sources of guaranteed lifetime income, sales of fixed annuities should remain strong.