Pensions at a Glance Asia/Pacific: Asia/Pacific

OECD · The World Bank

Jan 2009 · OECD Publishing

About this ebook

The report analyses the retirement income systems of 18 Asian countries, including Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, the Philippines and Vietnam. It says that reform is needed because: coverage of formal pension systems is relatively low; withdrawal of savings before retirement is very common; pension savings are often taken as lump sums and often do not provide people with adequate income over their lifetime; pensions payments are not automatically adjusted to reflect changes in the cost of living.

In OECD countries, an average of 70% of the working-age population are eligible for a pension. However in South Asia, just 7.5% of the working-age population are eligible and in East Asia 18%. Furthermore, few countries in Asia/Pacific have social pensions to provide safety-net retirement incomes for people who are not members of formal schemes. Only in India are social pensions significant, with around 10 to 15% of older people covered.