OtherFeb 26, 2024

Where Pension-Age People Are (Not) Receiving a Pension

Data from the World Health Organization reveals where few people of retirement age actually receive a pension. This includes many countries in Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia - despite the fact that the latter region is among the fastest-aging in the world.

Among pension-age people, only around 41 percent in Vietnam, 33 percent in Singapore, 21 percent in the Philippines and 15 percent in Indonesia as well as just 6-7 percent in Cambodia and Laos were actually receiving a pension as of the latest available data, which for these countries is 2018-2020. At the same time, Eastern and Southeastern Asia was the third-fastest aging WHO region after Europe/North America and Australia/New Zealand. Southeast Asia alone ranked nine out of 22 behind the aforementioned blocs' subregions as well as Eastern Asia and South America.

Nikkei Asia describes the social safety nets of the region as inadequate despite early retirement ages and said that "demographic bonuses" of the past were running out. Countries in Asia, Africa and the Middle East now have some catching up to do in regards to pensions. The undertaking is an important one, given global demographic developments, so important that adequate pensions have been inscribed as an UN Sustainable Development Goal.

A handful of countries in the world offer universal pensions, covering 100 percent of the population independent of work and family history. This approach is most common in Europe, anglophone nations and fast-aging Eastern Asia, but also stretches into Western and Central Asia. However, the data at hand doesn't say anything about whether the pensions paid are of an adequate level, a problem that applies to all pensions, but that universal and stopgap pensions suffer from in particular.

Dataset

Year	Country	WHO region	World bank income group	Proportion of persons above retirement age receiving a pension
2020	Afghanistan	Eastern Mediterranean	Low income	24.7
2021	Albania	Europe	Upper middle income	100
2020	Anguilla	Americas		66.1
2020	Antigua and Barbuda	Americas	High income	75.8
2020	Argentina	Americas	Upper middle income	89.8
2021	Argentina	Americas	Upper middle income	84.5
2020	Armenia	Europe	Upper middle income	65.2
2020	Aruba	Americas	High income	97.5
2021	Aruba	Americas	High income	100
2020	Azerbaijan	Europe	Upper middle income	72.8
2020	Bahamas	Americas	High income	89.6
2020	Bahrain	Eastern Mediterranean	High income	75.1
2020	Bangladesh	South-East Asia	Lower middle income	39
2021	Bangladesh	South-East Asia	Lower middle income	56.9
2020	Barbados	Americas	High income	63.5
2020	Belarus	Europe	Upper middle income	100
2020	Belize	Americas	Upper middle income	49.9
2020	Bermuda	Americas	High income	100
2020	Bolivia (Plurinational State of)	Americas	Lower middle income	100
2021	Bolivia (Plurinational State of)	Americas	Lower middle income	100
2020	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Europe	Upper middle income	69.5
2020	Botswana	Africa	Upper middle income	100
2020	Brazil	Americas	Upper middle income	91.5
2021	Brazil	Americas	Upper middle income	79.3
2020	Brunei Darussalam	Western Pacific	High income	100
2020	Burkina Faso	Africa	Low income	6
2021	Burkina Faso	Africa	Low income	6.7
2020	Cabo Verde	Africa	Lower middle income	84.8
2021	Cabo Verde	Africa	Lower middle income	85.6
2020	Cameroon	Africa	Lower middle income	18.3
2020	Central African Republic	Africa	Low income	4.7
2021	Chile	Americas	High income	100
2020	China	Western Pacific	Upper middle income	100
2020	China, Hong Kong SAR	Western Pacific	High income	73.2
2020	China, Macao SAR	Western Pacific	High income	44.4
2020	Colombia	Americas	Upper middle income	50.6
2021	Colombia	Americas	Upper middle income	45.7
2020	Cook Islands	Western Pacific		100
2020	Costa Rica	Americas	Upper middle income	56.2
2021	Costa Rica	Americas	Upper middle income	56.2
2020	Cuba	Americas	Upper middle income	2.7
2020	Curaçao	Americas	High income	100
2021	Curaçao	Americas	High income	100
2020	Dominica	Americas	Upper middle income	60.3
2020	Dominican Republic	Americas	Upper middle income	11.3
2021	Dominican Republic	Americas	Upper middle income	7.3
2020	Ecuador	Americas	Upper middle income	60.6
2021	Ecuador	Americas	Upper middle income	72.9
2020	Egypt	Eastern Mediterranean	Lower middle income	57.6
2020	El Salvador	Americas	Upper middle income	20.1
2021	El Salvador	Americas	Upper middle income	24.5
2020	Eswatini	Africa	Lower middle income	100
2020	Ethiopia	Africa	Low income	3.9
2020	Fiji	Western Pacific	Upper middle income	92.1
2020	French Guiana			46.7
2020	Georgia	Europe	Upper middle income	90.9
2020	Greenland	Europe	High income	100
2020	Grenada	Americas	Upper middle income	47.8
2020	Guadeloupe			72.7
2020	Guatemala	Americas	Upper middle income	16.7
2021	Guatemala	Americas	Upper middle income	15.6
2021	Guinea-Bissau	Africa	Low income	8.5
2020	Guyana	Americas	High income	100
2020	Haiti	Americas	Lower middle income	0.4
2020	Honduras	Americas	Lower middle income	10.7
2021	Honduras	Americas	Lower middle income	11.9
2020	India	South-East Asia	Lower middle income	42.5
2020	Indonesia	South-East Asia	Upper middle income	14.8
2020	Iran (Islamic Republic of)	Eastern Mediterranean	Lower middle income	21.3
2020	Iraq	Eastern Mediterranean	Upper middle income	33.1
2020	Jamaica	Americas	Upper middle income	40.3
2020	Jordan	Eastern Mediterranean	Lower middle income	60
2021	Jordan	Eastern Mediterranean	Lower middle income	46.1
2020	Kazakhstan	Europe	Upper middle income	99.6
2020	Kiribati	Western Pacific	Lower middle income	93.8
2020	Kuwait	Eastern Mediterranean	High income	27.6
2020	Kyrgyzstan	Europe	Lower middle income	100
2020	Lao People's Democratic Republic	Western Pacific	Lower middle income	6.3
2020	Lebanon	Eastern Mediterranean	Lower middle income	9.8
2020	Liberia	Africa	Low income	3.4
2020	Libya	Eastern Mediterranean	Upper middle income	70.2
2020	Liechtenstein			100
2020	Malaysia	Western Pacific	Upper middle income	18.6
2020	Maldives	South-East Asia	Upper middle income	100
2020	Mali	Africa	Low income	7.3
2020	Marshall Islands	Western Pacific	Upper middle income	62.7
2020	Martinique			64.1
2020	Mauritania	Africa	Lower middle income	16.2
2020	Mauritius	Africa	Upper middle income	100
2021	Mexico	Americas	Upper middle income	100
2020	Micronesia (Federated States of)	Western Pacific	Lower middle income	100
2020	Mongolia	Western Pacific	Lower middle income	100
2020	Montenegro	Europe	Upper middle income	90.6
2020	Mozambique	Africa	Low income	52.5
2020	Myanmar	South-East Asia	Lower middle income	14.9
2020	Namibia	Africa	Upper middle income	100
2020	Nauru	Western Pacific	High income	95.7
2020	Nepal	South-East Asia	Lower middle income	80.2
2020	Nicaragua	Americas	Lower middle income	28.6
2020	North Macedonia	Europe	Upper middle income	68.6
2020	occupied Palestinian territory, including east Jerusalem	Eastern Mediterranean	Upper middle income	65.7
2020	Oman	Eastern Mediterranean	High income	46.9
2020	Pakistan	Eastern Mediterranean	Lower middle income	5.8
2022	Pakistan	Eastern Mediterranean	Lower middle income	17.4
2020	Palau	Western Pacific	Upper middle income	100
2020	Panama	Americas	High income	29.3
2021	Panama	Americas	High income	63.9
2020	Papua New Guinea	Western Pacific	Lower middle income	22.3
2020	Paraguay	Americas	Upper middle income	64.6
2021	Paraguay	Americas	Upper middle income	87.1
2020	Peru	Americas	Upper middle income	35.7
2020	Philippines	Western Pacific	Lower middle income	20.5
2020	Puerto Rico	Americas	High income	100
2020	Qatar	Eastern Mediterranean	High income	19.4
2020	Republic of Moldova	Europe	Upper middle income	75.2
2020	Russian Federation	Europe	Upper middle income	100
2020	Rwanda	Africa	Low income	3.1
2020	Saint Kitts and Nevis	Americas	High income	62.3
2020	Saint Lucia	Americas	Upper middle income	32.5
2020	Saint Pierre and Miquelon			100
2020	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	Americas	Upper middle income	42
2020	Samoa	Western Pacific	Lower middle income	91.4
2020	Sao Tome and Principe	Africa	Lower middle income	71.5
2021	Sao Tome and Principe	Africa	Lower middle income	65.5
2020	Saudi Arabia	Eastern Mediterranean	High income	33.2
2020	Serbia	Europe	Upper middle income	63.5
2021	Serbia	Europe	Upper middle income	53.5
2020	Seychelles	Africa	High income	100
2020	Sierra Leone	Africa	Low income	7
2020	Singapore	Western Pacific	High income	33.1
2020	South Africa	Africa	Upper middle income	81.5
2020	South Sudan	Africa	Low income	0
2020	Sri Lanka	South-East Asia	Lower middle income	35.7
2020	Sudan	Eastern Mediterranean	Low income	9.4
2020	Suriname	Americas	Upper middle income	100
2020	Syrian Arab Republic	Eastern Mediterranean	Low income	17
2020	Taiwan, China			87.6
2020	Tajikistan	Europe	Lower middle income	93.7
2020	Thailand	South-East Asia	Upper middle income	89.1
2020	Timor-Leste	South-East Asia	Lower middle income	100
2020	Tonga	Western Pacific	Upper middle income	90
2020	Trinidad and Tobago	Americas	High income	91.1
2020	Tunisia	Eastern Mediterranean	Lower middle income	85.4
2021	Turkmenistan	Europe	Upper middle income	77.2
2020	Turks and Caicos Islands	Americas	High income	68.4
2020	Uganda	Africa	Low income	11.2
2020	Ukraine	Europe	Lower middle income	96.2
2020	United Arab Emirates	Eastern Mediterranean	High income	22.6
2020	United Republic of Tanzania	Africa	Lower middle income	5.5
2021	United Republic of Tanzania	Africa	Lower middle income	7.4
2020	United States Virgin Islands	Americas	High income	100
2020	Uruguay	Americas	High income	100
2021	Uruguay	Americas	High income	100
2020	Uzbekistan	Europe	Lower middle income	100
2020	Viet Nam	Western Pacific	Lower middle income	40.9
2020	Yemen	Eastern Mediterranean	Low income	7.4
2020	Zambia	Africa	Lower middle income	7.8
2020	Zimbabwe	Africa	Lower middle income	22

Data sources

https://www.statista.com/chart/31776/share-of-the-population-above-retirement-age-which-receives-a-pension/https://platform.who.int/data/maternal-newborn-child-adolescent-ageing/indicator-explorer-new/MCA/proportion-of-persons-above-retirement-age-receiving-a-pension-(sdg-1.3.1)

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Where Pension-Age People Are (Not) Receiving a Pension

Dataset

Data sources

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