Old-Age Pensions Around the World
How is a pension built in each country, and what happens to people who have little or no pension record? This guide shows the design of the public pension and the safety net in old age for 52 countries, with the names of the programs and a link to each country’s own pension authority for today’s amounts and ages.
Part of the comparative law toolkit. We leave out amounts and retirement ages on purpose: they change every year or are being phased in.
Every country, side by side
Click a heading to sort. Open a country for the program names and its official pension authority.
| Argentina | Earnings-related | Social or means-tested pension |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | Mandatory personal accounts | Social or means-tested pension |
| Austria | Earnings-related | Guaranteed minimum |
| Belgium | Earnings-related | Guaranteed minimum |
| Brazil | Earnings-related | Social or means-tested pension |
| Bulgaria | Public plus funded | Guaranteed minimum |
| Canada | Flat or universal basic | Pension for nearly all |
| Chile | Mandatory personal accounts | Pension for nearly all |
| China | Public plus funded | Social or means-tested pension |
| Colombia | Public plus funded | Social or means-tested pension |
| Croatia | Public plus funded | Guaranteed minimum |
| Czechia | Flat or universal basic | Guaranteed minimum |
| Denmark | Flat or universal basic | Pension for nearly all |
| Egypt | Earnings-related | Social or means-tested pension |
| Finland | Earnings-related | Guaranteed minimum |
| France | Earnings-related | Social or means-tested pension |
| Germany | Earnings-related | Social or means-tested pension |
| Greece | Public plus funded | Pension for nearly all |
| Hungary | Earnings-related | Guaranteed minimum |
| India | Public plus funded | Social or means-tested pension |
| Indonesia | Public plus funded | Little or none |
| Ireland | Flat or universal basic | Social or means-tested pension |
| Israel | Flat or universal basic | Pension for nearly all |
| Italy | Earnings-related | Social or means-tested pension |
| Japan | Flat or universal basic | Guaranteed minimum |
| Kenya | Earnings-related | Social or means-tested pension |
| Malaysia | Mandatory personal accounts | Little or none |
| Mexico | Mandatory personal accounts | Pension for nearly all |
| Morocco | Earnings-related | Little or none |
| Netherlands | Flat or universal basic | Pension for nearly all |
| New Zealand | Flat or universal basic | Pension for nearly all |
| Nigeria | Mandatory personal accounts | Little or none |
| Norway | Earnings-related | Guaranteed minimum |
| Peru | Public plus funded | Social or means-tested pension |
| Philippines | Earnings-related | Social or means-tested pension |
| Poland | Public plus funded | Guaranteed minimum |
| Portugal | Earnings-related | Social or means-tested pension |
| Romania | Earnings-related | Guaranteed minimum |
| Russia | Earnings-related | Social or means-tested pension |
| Saudi Arabia | Earnings-related | Little or none |
| Singapore | Mandatory personal accounts | Little or none |
| South Africa | Flat or universal basic | Social or means-tested pension |
| South Korea | Earnings-related | Social or means-tested pension |
| Spain | Earnings-related | Guaranteed minimum |
| Sweden | Earnings-related | Guaranteed minimum |
| Switzerland | Public plus funded | Social or means-tested pension |
| Thailand | Earnings-related | Social or means-tested pension |
| Turkey | Earnings-related | Guaranteed minimum |
| Ukraine | Earnings-related | Social or means-tested pension |
| United Arab Emirates | Earnings-related | Little or none |
| United Kingdom | Flat or universal basic | Social or means-tested pension |
| United States | Earnings-related | Social or means-tested pension |
Read this first
This guide gives the general structure of each country's old-age pension from our own knowledge: it is not checked line by line, and it deliberately leaves out amounts and retirement ages, which change often. Use the country's pension authority for current figures and for your own case. This is general information, not legal or financial advice.
How the pension is built
The core of the public system. Some countries pay a flat basic pension to everyone who has lived there long enough; many pay a pension that follows your earnings and contributions; some rely on compulsory personal savings accounts; many combine two. Most countries also have employer or voluntary pensions on top.
The safety net in old age
What a person gets who has little or no pension record, for example because they worked informally, cared for family or arrived late in life. It may be a universal pension, a minimum top-up for contributors, a means-tested social pension, or very little. This is the closest thing to a 'minimum pension' that every country has in some form.
Things that are true almost everywhere
A 'minimum pension' means different things
It can be a guaranteed floor for people who contributed, a means-tested top-up, or a social pension for people who never did. The same word covers all three, so look at who qualifies and how it is tested.
Retirement ages are moving
Many countries are raising the age at which you can claim, in steps over years, and some pay men and women at different ages. We leave the numbers to each country's own authority so they are never out of date.
Amounts change every year
Pensions are usually adjusted yearly for prices or wages. Look up the current amount on the pension authority's site rather than in an article or table.
Moving countries
If you have worked in more than one country, treaties and, within the EU, the coordination rules can combine your insured years. Ask each pension authority, and keep proof of every period you worked.
Check what counts for you
Years of residence, years of contributions, caring years and earlier retirement for some jobs all change the result. The pension authority can give you a forecast for your own record.
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TheLawToKnow Tools. Old-Age Pensions Around the World. https://tools.thelawtoknow.com/old-age-pensions.
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