Pensions
Ranked: The Best and Worst Pension Plans, by Country
The Best and Worst Pension Plans Worldwide
Each year, millions of people around the world leave the workforce to retire.
But as the global population grows older, and the COVID-19 pandemic accelerates the already rising number of retirees, there is still a large degree of variance in the quality of public pension plans around the world.
Which countries have invested in robust public pension programs, and which lag behind?
This graphic, using 2021 data from Mercer CFA Institute Global Pension Index, compares retirement income systems worldwide.
How the Index Ranks Pension Plans
Because a countryโs pension system is unique to its particular economic and historical context, itโs difficult to draw direct comparisons. However, there are certain elements that pension experts see as universally positive, and that lead to better financial support for older citizens.
As with previous rankings, Mercer and the CFA Institute organized these universal elements into three sub-indexes:
- Adequacy: The base-level of income, as well as the design of a regionโs private pension system.
- Sustainability: The state pension age, the level of advanced funding from the government, and the level of government debt.
- Integrity: Regulations and governance put in place to protect plan members.
These three measures were used to rank the pension system of 43 different countries, representing more than 65% of the worldโs population. This yearโs iteration of the index notably includes four new countriesโIceland, Taiwan, UAE, and Uruguay.
The Full Ranking
When it comes to the best pension plans across the globe, Iceland, the Netherlands, and Denmark have the top three systems.
Country | Overall Value | Adequacy | Sustainability | Integrity |
---|---|---|---|---|
๐ฆ๐ท Argentina | 41.5 | 52.7 | 27.7 | 43.0 |
๐ฆ๐บ Australia | 75.0 | 67.4 | 75.7 | 86.3 |
๐ฆ๐น Austria | 53.0 | 65.3 | 23.5 | 74.5 |
๐ง๐ช Belgium | 64.5 | 74.9 | 36.3 | 87.4 |
๐ง๐ท Brazil | 54.7 | 71.2 | 24.1 | 71.2 |
๐จ๐ฆ Canada | 69.8 | 69.0 | 65.7 | 76.7 |
๐จ๐ฑ Chile | 67.0 | 57.6 | 68.8 | 79.3 |
๐จ๐ณ China | 55.1 | 62.6 | 43.5 | 59.4 |
๐จ๐ด Colombia | 58.4 | 62.0 | 46.2 | 69.8 |
๐ฉ๐ฐ Denmark | 82.0 | 81.1 | 83.5 | 81.4 |
๐ซ๐ฎ Finland | 73.3 | 71.4 | 61.5 | 93.1 |
๐ซ๐ท France | 60.5 | 79.1 | 41.8 | 56.8 |
๐ฉ๐ช Germany | 67.9 | 79.3 | 45.4 | 81.2 |
๐ญ๐ฐ Hong Kong | 61.8 | 55.1 | 51.1 | 87.7 |
๐ฎ๐ธ Iceland | 84.2 | 82.7 | 84.6 | 86.0 |
๐ฎ๐ณ India | 43.3 | 33.5 | 41.8 | 61.0 |
๐ฎ๐ฉ Indonesia | 50.4 | 44.7 | 43.6 | 69.2 |
๐ฎ๐ช Ireland | 68.3 | 78.0 | 47.4 | 82.1 |
๐ฎ๐ฑ Israel | 77.1 | 73.6 | 76.1 | 83.9 |
๐ฎ๐น Italy | 53.4 | 68.2 | 21.3 | 74.9 |
๐ฏ๐ต Japan | 49.8 | 52.9 | 37.5 | 61.9 |
๐ฐ๐ท Korea | 48.3 | 43.4 | 52.7 | 50.0 |
๐ฒ๐พ Malaysia | 59.6 | 50.6 | 57.5 | 76.8 |
๐ฒ๐ฝ Mexico | 49.0 | 47.3 | 54.7 | 43.8 |
๐ณ๐ฑ Netherlands | 83.5 | 82.3 | 81.6 | 87.9 |
๐ณ๐ฟ New Zealand | 67.4 | 61.8 | 62.5 | 83.2 |
๐ณ๐ด Norway | 75.2 | 81.2 | 57.4 | 90.2 |
๐ต๐ช Peru | 55.0 | 58.8 | 44.2 | 64.1 |
๐ต๐ญ Philippines | 42.7 | 38.9 | 52.5 | 35.0 |
๐ต๐ฑ Poland | 55.2 | 60.9 | 41.3 | 65.6 |
๐ธ๐ฆ Saudi Arabia | 58.1 | 61.7 | 50.9 | 62.5 |
๐ธ๐ฌ Singapore | 70.7 | 73.5 | 59.8 | 81.5 |
๐ฟ๐ฆ South Africa | 53.6 | 44.3 | 46.5 | 78.5 |
๐ช๐ธ Spain | 58.6 | 72.9 | 28.1 | 78.3 |
๐ธ๐ช Sweden | 72.9 | 67.8 | 73.7 | 80.0 |
๐จ๐ญ Switzerland | 70.0 | 65.4 | 67.2 | 81.3 |
๐น๐ผ Taiwan | 51.8 | 40.8 | 51.9 | 69.3 |
๐น๐ญ Thailand | 40.6 | 35.2 | 40.0 | 50.0 |
๐น๐ท Turkey | 45.8 | 47.7 | 28.6 | 66.7 |
๐ฆ๐ช UAE | 59.6 | 59.7 | 50.2 | 72.6 |
๐ฌ๐ง UK | 71.6 | 73.9 | 59.8 | 84.4 |
๐บ๐พ Uruguay | 60.7 | 62.1 | 49.2 | 74.4 |
๐บ๐ฒ U.S. | 61.4 | 60.9 | 63.6 | 59.2 |
Average | 61.0 | 62.2 | 51.7 | 72.1 |
Icelandโs system ranks high across all three sub-indexes. The country offers a state pension with two components: mandatory contributions from both employees and employers, and optional contributions to state-approved pension products.
Its system has a high contribution rate, which ultimately results in a generous state pension that retirees in Iceland can tap into. The country also has a relatively low gender pension gap, meaning the difference between the average female pension versus male pension is relatively smallโespecially compared to other OECD countries.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, the Philippines, Argentina, and Thailand scored the lowest on the ranking.
Thailand scores particularly low in the adequacy category, with a score of 35.2. To increase its score, Thailand could increase the minimum payments for its poorest demographic and include more employees in occupational pension schemes.
Recommendations for Better Pension Plans
According to the index, countries seem to be steadily improving their pension systems. From 2020 to 2021, the average score of the overall index increased by 1.0.
With an average of 60.7, the index shows that most countries’ systems have some good features, but they also have some significant shortcomings that could be addressed by the following recommendations:
- Boosting adequacy by increasing coverage, and including more employees in private pensions systems.
- Increasing sustainability by adjusting retirement pension age to reflect increasing life expectancy, and promoting higher workforce participation from older citizens.
- Raise integrity by introducing policies that reduce the gender pension gap and discrepancies amongst minorities.
Countries that implement even a few of these changes could make a huge difference for their next generation of retireesโand those that donโt could be in trouble in the near future.
Pensions
Ranked: The Worldโs 100 Biggest Pension Funds
The worldโs 100 largest pension funds are worth over $17 trillion in total. Which ones are the biggest, and where are they located?

Ranked: The Worldโs 100 Biggest Pension Funds
View the high-resolution of the infographic by clicking here.
Despite economic uncertainty, pension funds saw relatively strong growth in 2021. The worldโs 100 biggest pension funds are worth over $17 trillion in total, an increase of 8.5% over the previous year.
This graphic uses data from the Thinking Ahead Institute to rank the worldโs biggest pension funds, and where they are located.
What is a Pension Fund?
A pension fund is a fund that is designed to provide retirement income. This ranking covers four different types:
- Sovereign funds: Funds controlled directly by the state. This ranking only includes sovereign funds that are established by national authorities.
- Public sector funds: Funds that cover public sector workers, such as government employees and teachers, in provincial or state sponsored plans.
- Private independent funds: Funds controlled by private sector organizations that are authorized to manage pension plans from different employers.
- Corporate funds: Funds that cover workers in company sponsored pension plans.
Among the largest funds, public sector funds are the most common.
The Largest Pension Funds, Ranked
Here are the top 100 pension funds, organized from largest to smallest.
Rank | Fund | Market | Total Assets |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Government Pension Investment Fund | ๐ฏ๐ต Japan | $1.7T |
2 | Government Pension Fund | ๐ณ๐ด Norway | $1.4T |
3 | National Pension | ๐ฐ๐ท South Korea | $798.0B |
4 | Federal Retirement Thrift | ๐บ๐ธ U.S. | $774.2B |
5 | ABP | ๐ณ๐ฑ Netherlands | $630.4B |
6 | California Public Employees | ๐บ๐ธ U.S. | $496.8B |
7 | Canada Pension | ๐จ๐ฆ Canada | $426.7B |
8 | National Social Security | ๐จ๐ณ China | $406.8B |
9 | Central Provident Fund | ๐ธ๐ฌ Singapore | $375.0B |
10 | PFZW | ๐ณ๐ฑ Netherlands | $315.5B |
11 | California State Teachers | ๐บ๐ธ U.S. | $313.9B |
12 | New York State Common | ๐บ๐ธ U.S. | $267.8B |
13 | New York City Retirement | ๐บ๐ธ U.S. | $266.7B |
14 | Local Government Officials | ๐ฏ๐ต Japan | $248.6B |
15 | Employees Provident Fund | ๐ฒ๐พ Malaysia | $242.6B |
16 | Florida State Board | ๐บ๐ธ U.S. | $213.8B |
17 | Texas Teachers | ๐บ๐ธ U.S. | $196.7B |
18 | Ontario Teachers | ๐จ๐ฆ Canada | $191.1B |
19 | National Wealth Fund | ๐ท๐บ Russia | $180.7B |
20 | AustralianSuper | ๐ฆ๐บ Australia | $169.1B |
21 | Labor Pension Fund | ๐น๐ผ Taiwan | $168.9B |
22 | Washington State Board | ๐บ๐ธ U.S. | $161.5B |
23 | Public Institute for Social Security | ๐ฐ๐ผ Kuwait | $160.0B |
24 | ATP | ๐ฉ๐ฐ Denmark | $155.4B |
25 | Wisconsin Investment Board | ๐บ๐ธ U.S. | $147.9B |
26 | Future Fund | ๐ฆ๐บ Australia | $147.9B |
27 | Boeing | ๐บ๐ธ U.S. | $147.2B |
28 | Employees' Provident | ๐ฎ๐ณ India | $145.0B |
29 | New York State Teachers | ๐บ๐ธ U.S. | $144.4B |
30 | North Carolina | ๐บ๐ธ U.S. | $137.1B |
31 | Alecta | ๐ธ๐ช Sweden | $136.7B |
32 | GEPF | ๐ฟ๐ฆ South Africa | $129.1B |
33 | California University | ๐บ๐ธ U.S. | $125.3B |
34 | Bayerische Versorgungskammer | ๐ฉ๐ช Germany | $122.0B |
35 | Ohio Public Employees | ๐บ๐ธ U.S. | $121.6B |
36 | AT&T | ๐บ๐ธ U.S. | $119.5B |
37 | Public Service Pension Plan | ๐จ๐ฆ Canada | $117.9B |
38 | National Federation of Mutual Aid | ๐ฏ๐ต Japan | $117.1B |
39 | Metaal/tech. Bedrijven | ๐ณ๐ฑ Netherlands | $115.8B |
40 | IBM | ๐บ๐ธ U.S. | $115.4B |
41 | Universities Superannuation | ๐ฌ๐ง UK | $111.2B |
42 | Virginia Retirement | ๐บ๐ธ U.S. | $110.0B |
43 | Pension Fund Association | ๐ฏ๐ต Japan | $109.8B |
44 | Raytheon Technologies | ๐บ๐ธ U.S. | $108.9B |
45 | Michigan Retirement | ๐บ๐ธ U.S. | $108.0B |
46 | Aware Super | ๐ฆ๐บ Australia | $107.5B |
47 | New Jersey | ๐บ๐ธ U.S. | $104.5B |
48 | Minnesota State Board | ๐บ๐ธ U.S. | $102.9B |
49 | PFA Pension | ๐ฉ๐ฐ Denmark | $102.7B |
50 | Kaiser | ๐บ๐ธ U.S. | $101.0B |
51 | Georgia Teachers | ๐บ๐ธ U.S. | $100.9B |
52 | Oregon Public Employees | ๐บ๐ธ U.S. | $100.4B |
53 | Massachusetts PRIM | ๐บ๐ธ U.S. | $98.5B |
54 | Qsuper | ๐ฆ๐บ Australia | $96.5B |
55 | General Motors | ๐บ๐ธ U.S. | $96.1B |
56 | Ontario Municipal Employees | ๐จ๐ฆ Canada | $95.7B |
57 | Ohio State Teachers | ๐บ๐ธ U.S. | $95.1B |
58 | AP Fonden 7 | ๐ธ๐ช Sweden | $94.4B |
59 | Healthcare of Ontario | ๐จ๐ฆ Canada | $90.5B |
60 | General Electric | ๐บ๐ธ U.S. | $90.5B |
61 | Employees' Pension Fund | ๐ฎ๐ณ India | $89.5B |
62 | Bouwnijverheid | ๐ณ๐ฑ Netherlands | $88.5B |
63 | UPS | ๐บ๐ธ U.S. | $86.8B |
64 | United Nations Joint Staff | ๐บ๐ธ U.S. | $86.2B |
65 | Lockheed Martin | ๐บ๐ธ U.S. | $85.7B |
66 | Quebec Pension | ๐จ๐ฆ Canada | $81.4B |
67 | National Public Service | ๐ฏ๐ต Japan | $79.9B |
68 | Tennessee Consolidated | ๐บ๐ธ U.S. | $79.0B |
69 | Royal Bank of Scotland Group | ๐ฌ๐ง UK | $78.3B |
70 | Bank of America | ๐บ๐ธ U.S. | $76.3B |
71 | BT Group | ๐ฌ๐ง UK | $74.3B |
72 | Keva | ๐ซ๐ฎ Finland | $73.3B |
73 | Ford | ๐บ๐ธ U.S. | $72.8B |
74 | PME | ๐ณ๐ฑ Netherlands | $72.7B |
75 | Los Angeles County Employees | ๐บ๐ธ U.S. | $72.7B |
76 | Quebec Government & Public | ๐จ๐ฆ Canada | $72.4B |
77 | UniSuper | ๐ฆ๐บ Australia | $72.1B |
78 | Northrop Grumman | ๐บ๐ธ U.S. | $72.0B |
79 | Pennsylvania School Employees | ๐บ๐ธ U.S. | $70.4B |
80 | Lloyds Banking Group | ๐ฌ๐ง UK | $69.7B |
81 | Ilmarinen | ๐ซ๐ฎ Finland | $69.1B |
82 | Colorado Employees | ๐บ๐ธ U.S. | $68.6B |
83 | Maryland State Retirement | ๐บ๐ธ U.S. | $68.5B |
84 | AMF Pension | ๐ธ๐ช Sweden | $67.3B |
85 | Varma | ๐ซ๐ฎ Finland | $67.1B |
86 | Wells Fargo | ๐บ๐ธ U.S. | $66.0B |
87 | Sunsuper | ๐ฆ๐บ Australia | $66.0B |
88 | Verizon | ๐บ๐ธ U.S. | $64.1B |
89 | Illinois Teachers | ๐บ๐ธ U.S. | $64.0B |
90 | J.P. Morgan Chase | ๐บ๐ธ U.S. | $62.8B |
91 | Electricity Supply Pension | ๐ฌ๐ง UK | $62.5B |
92 | FedEx | ๐บ๐ธ U.S. | $60.7B |
93 | Nevada Public Employees | ๐บ๐ธ U.S. | $58.8B |
94 | B.C. Municipal | ๐จ๐ฆ Canada | $58.7B |
95 | AP Fonden 4 | ๐ธ๐ช Sweden | $57.7B |
96 | Missouri Schools & Education | ๐บ๐ธ U.S. | $57.0B |
97 | AP Fonden 3 | ๐ธ๐ช Sweden | $55.9B |
98 | Social Insurance Funds | ๐ป๐ณ Vietnam | $55.7B |
99 | Organization for Workers | ๐ฏ๐ต Japan | $55.6B |
100 | Illinois Municipal | ๐บ๐ธ U.S. | $54.9B |
U.S. fund data are as of Sep. 30, 2021, and non-U.S. fund data are as of Dec. 31, 2021. There are some exceptions as noted in the graphic footnotes.
Japanโs Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) is the largest in the ranking for the 21st year in a row. For a time, the fund was the largest holder of domestic stocks in Japan, though the Bank of Japan has since taken that title. Given its enormous size, investors closely follow the GPIFโs actions. For instance, the fund made headlines for deciding to start investing in startups, because the move could entice other pensions to make similar investments.
America is home to 47 funds on the list, including the largest public sector fund: the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP), overseen by the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board. Because of its large financial influence, both political parties have been accused of using it as a political tool. Democrats have pushed to divest assets in fossil fuel companies, while Republicans have proposed blocking investment in Chinese-owned companies.
Russiaโs National Wealth Fund comes in at number 19 on the list. The fund is designed to support the public pension system and help balance the budget as needed. With Russiaโs economy facing difficulties amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the government has also used it as a rainy day fund. For instance, Russia has set aside $23 billion from the fund to replace foreign aircraft with domestic models, because Western sanctions have made it difficult to source replacement parts for foreign planes.
The Future of Pension Funds
The biggest pension funds can have a large influence in the market because of their size. Of course, they are also responsible for providing retirement income to millions of people. Pension funds face a variety of challenges in order to reach their goals:
- Geopolitical conflict creates volatility and uncertainty
- High inflation and low interest rates (relative to long-term averages) limit return potential
- Aging populations mean more withdrawals and less fund contributions
Some pension funds are turning to alternative assets, such as private equity, in pursuit of more diversification and higher returns. Of course, these investments can also carry more risk.
Ontario Teachersโ Pension Plan, number 18 on the list, invested $95 million in the now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX. The plan made the investment through its venture growth platform, to โgain small-scale exposure to an emerging area in the financial technology sector.โ
In this case, the investmentโs failure is expected to have a minimal impact given it only made up 0.05% of the planโs net assets. However, it does highlight the challenges pension funds face to generate sufficient returns in a variety of macroeconomic environments.
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