ILO · Old-Age Pension Coverage
Old-age pension coverage by country
What share of people above pension age actually receive a pension?
Of the 208 countries compared in the 2025 edition, 63 countries shared the highest reading, 100.0%, and 3 countries shared the lowest reading, 0.0%. In the middle country the figure was 81.7%. 3 readings from before 2015 are listed but not compared.
Share
Old-age pension coverage · the 2025 edition
Context statistic
63 countries share the highest value, 100.0% — no single country is named first.
01the 2025 edition · values only
Who leads
The three countries at the highest end of 208 compared, the three at the other end, and the first on each continent.
Highest in the 2025 edition · shared
63 countries share the highest reading, 100.0%
No single country is named first: picking one from a shared value would be a choice the data does not make.
Aruba
Andorra
Austria
Belgium
Belarus
Bolivia
Brunei
Botswana
Canada
China
Curaçao
Czechia
Germany
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
Fiji
France
United Kingdom
Georgia
Greenland
Guyana
Isle of Man
Israel
Italy
Japan
Kyrgyzstan
South Korea
Liechtenstein
Lesotho
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Latvia
Macau
Maldives
Mexico
Mongolia
Montserrat
Mauritius
Namibia- and 23 more — every one is in the list below
Lowest in the 2025 edition
South Sudan0.0%
Somalia0.0%
Solomon Islands0.0%
Where a country sits says how it compares with the others measured, and nothing about why.
02Every measured country
Old-age pension coverage on a map
Each country is shaded by its value, in five groups holding the same number of countries. Hover a country for its value, or select it to open its profile. Below the map, each continent’s middle country.
Darker is a higher value — the better end.
- 0.0–17.8%
- 18.3–59.3%
- 59.6–93.2%
- 93.8–100.0%
- Hatched: a reading from before 2015, listed but not compared (3)
- No reading in the 2025 edition
- Europe
100.0%
the middle country, of 45 measured · 49 members
24 share 100.0%
Monaco24.2%Highest and lowest reading in Europe.
- Oceania
97.0%
the middle country, of 17 measured · 21 members
7 share 100.0%
Solomon Islands0.0%Highest and lowest reading in Oceania.
- Americas
81.5%
the middle country, of 46 measured · 48 members
12 share 100.0%
Haiti1.0%Highest and lowest reading in Americas.
- Asia
65.6%
the middle country, of 49 measured · 52 members
13 share 100.0%
Myanmar0.9%Highest and lowest reading in Asia.
- Africa
16.6%
the middle country, of 51 measured · 55 members
7 share 100.0%
2 share 0.0%
Highest and lowest reading in Africa.
- Every region
22 sub-regions, highest middle country first
- Central Asia
100.0%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members
3 share 100.0%
Turkmenistan77.2%Highest and lowest reading in Central Asia.
- Eastern Asia
100.0%
the middle country, of 7 measured · 8 members
5 share 100.0%
Hong Kong82.5%Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Asia.
- Northern Europe
100.0%
the middle country, of 11 measured · 13 members
9 share 100.0%
Iceland82.4%Highest and lowest reading in Northern Europe.
- Polynesia
100.0%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 7 members
3 share 100.0%
Cook Islands67.2%Highest and lowest reading in Polynesia.
- Southern Africa
100.0%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members
4 share 100.0%
South Africa81.5%Highest and lowest reading in Southern Africa.
- Western Europe
100.0%
the middle country, of 9 measured · 9 members
7 share 100.0%
Monaco24.2%Highest and lowest reading in Western Europe.
- Eastern Europe
99.0%
the middle country, of 10 measured · 10 members
4 share 100.0%
Poland82.9%Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Europe.
- Micronesia
97.0%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 7 members
2 share 100.0%
Marshall Islands62.7%Highest and lowest reading in Micronesia.
- Southern Europe
94.6%
the middle country, of 15 measured · 17 members
4 share 100.0%
Serbia53.5%Highest and lowest reading in Southern Europe.
- South America
89.7%
the middle country, of 12 measured · 12 members
5 share 100.0%
Peru53.7%Highest and lowest reading in South America.
- Caribbean
77.8%
the middle country, of 22 measured · 24 members
3 share 100.0%
Haiti1.0%Highest and lowest reading in Caribbean.
- Northern Africa
69.0%
the middle country, of 6 measured · 6 members
Tunisia100.0%
Sudan10.6%Highest and lowest reading in Northern Africa.
- Western Asia
46.6%
the middle country, of 17 measured · 19 members
2 share 100.0%
Qatar8.0%Highest and lowest reading in Western Asia.
- Southern Asia
45.9%
the middle country, of 9 measured · 9 members
Maldives100.0%
Pakistan17.4%Highest and lowest reading in Southern Asia.
- South-eastern Asia
37.3%
the middle country, of 11 measured · 11 members
2 share 100.0%
Myanmar0.9%Highest and lowest reading in South-eastern Asia.
- Central America
36.3%
the middle country, of 8 measured · 8 members
Mexico100.0%
Honduras14.6%Highest and lowest reading in Central America.
- Eastern Africa
16.7%
the middle country, of 17 measured · 19 members
2 share 100.0%
2 share 0.0%
Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Africa.
- Western Africa
15.2%
the middle country, of 16 measured · 16 members
Cabo Verde76.7%
Guinea2.5%Highest and lowest reading in Western Africa.
- Middle Africa
5.8%
the middle country, of 7 measured · 9 members
São Tomé and Príncipe54.8%
DR Congo1.0%Highest and lowest reading in Middle Africa.
- Melanesia
4.1%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members
Fiji100.0%Solomon Islands0.0%Highest and lowest reading in Melanesia.
- Australia and New Zealand
2 of 2 measured — too few for a middle: Australia, New Zealand.
New Zealand100.0%
Australia74.4%Highest and lowest reading in Australia and New Zealand.
- Northern America
4 of 4 measured — too few for a middle: Bermuda, Canada, Greenland, United States.
3 share 100.0%
Bermuda92.8%Highest and lowest reading in Northern America.
03The whole field at once
The spread
208 countries, one dot each, on one scale — further right is a higher value. Half the countries are above 81.7%; a quarter are above 100.0%, and a quarter below 23.4%. The bar in each row marks that continent’s middle country.
04All 211 ever measured
Every country
In order, highest value first. No rank or position is shown: too many countries share the same value for an order to mean anything. Many countries reach 100%, so no position is shown — ordering a ceiling would invent differences that are not there. The figure counts people who receive a pension, not how much it pays: a universal pension too small to live on counts the same as a generous one.
Showing 25 of 211 countries
Values for the 2025 edition.
05In this edition
Old-age pension coverage in records
The extremes of the statistic. A record reached by more than one country names none of them.
Highest reading
Reached 63 times by 63 countries — shared, so no holder is named
100.0%
People above statutory pensionable age receiving an old-age pension (%)
Lowest reading
Reached 3 times by 3 countries — shared, so no holder is named
0.0%
People above statutory pensionable age receiving an old-age pension (%)
06By sex
Inside the number
International Labour Organization (ILO) also publishes separate female and male readings. The gap between them, where both exist.
Of the 145 countries with both readings, the women reading is higher in 17, the men reading in 64, and they are equal in 64. The widest gaps each way:
1 country's readings are too old to compare and are left out; they are still listed under Every country.
07The measure
About old-age pension coverage
This is the share of people above the statutory pension age who actually receive an old-age pension, whether they paid into a scheme or receive one funded from taxes. It is the pension part of the United Nations’ measure of social protection, and it shows whether old age brings an income of its own.
What the number is: People above statutory pensionable age receiving an old-age pension (%).
08Where it fits
Connections
Its part in the Country Index, the statistics whose values line up most closely with it across countries, and others on the same subject.
In the Country Index
Context, with no vote
This statistic is published in full under Governance & Institutions and Development & Human Capital, but does not help decide any Country Index standing.
Governance & InstitutionsDevelopment & Human CapitalWhich statistics vote, and why
Moves with
Where old-age pension coverage is higher, these tend to be higher too.
- Disability Benefit CoverageILO · 188 countries in commonρ 0.73
- Primary Completion RateUIS · 162 countries in commonρ 0.72
- Inequality-adjusted Human Development IndexUNDP Human Development Report Office · 167 countries in commonρ 0.72
Moves against
Where old-age pension coverage is higher, these tend to be lower.
- Learning PovertyWorld Bank Group and UNESCO Institute for Statistics · 106 countries in commonρ −0.72
- Coefficient of Human InequalityUNDP Human Development Report Office · 167 countries in commonρ −0.71
- Global Multidimensional Poverty IndexOPHI · 101 countries in commonρ −0.71
Rank correlation (ρ, from −1 to 1) across countries, on each statistic’s newest edition, out of 384 statistics sharing at least 80 countries with this one. Two statistics that move together do not cause each other.
09Keep reading
Explore further
The data, edition by edition
The countries at either end
10Questions
Old-age pension coverage: questions and answers
Which country has the highest old-age pension coverage?
63 countries share the highest reading, 100.0%, among the 208 compared in the 2025 edition, so no single country is named.
Which country has the lowest old-age pension coverage?
3 countries share the lowest reading, 0.0%, among the 208 compared in the 2025 edition, so no single country is named.
How many countries does the Old-Age Pension Coverage cover?
208 in the 2025 edition, and 211 at least once across all editions.
What is the world average old-age pension coverage?
This site does not calculate a world average, which would depend on how countries are weighted. In the middle country of the 208 compared in the 2025 edition, the figure was 81.7%.
Is this International Labour Organization (ILO)’s own ranking?
No ranking is shown. International Labour Organization (ILO) publishes values only, and too many countries share the same value for an ordering to mean anything, so none is derived.
How often is the Old-Age Pension Coverage published?
This site holds one edition, describing 2025.
Where does the data come from, and can I download it?
From International Labour Organization (ILO), under CC BY 4.0. The pension part of SDG indicator 1.3.1, from the ILO’s World Social Protection Report, read from ILOSTAT directly. It comes from the same file as Social Protection Coverage, which counts anyone covered by any benefit. Every edition is on this site’s Datasets pages as a full table, and downloads as a CSV file with every value unrounded.
11Method
Sources, method and citation
Source
Old-Age Pension Coverage — International Labour Organization (ILO)
The pension part of SDG indicator 1.3.1, from the ILO’s World Social Protection Report, read from ILOSTAT directly. It comes from the same file as Social Protection Coverage, which counts anyone covered by any benefit.
Newest edition
Report year 2025Data year not recorded
Cite the source as: International Labour Organization. World Social Protection Report. Geneva: ILO.
Licence: CC BY 4.0, checked 2026-09-29.
How this page reads the numbers
- No rank or position is shown: International Labour Organization (ILO) publishes values only, and too many countries share the same value for an ordering to mean anything.
- Which end is better follows the publisher’s own reading of the measure.
- A country is named at an end only when it holds that value alone. Where several share it, the page says how many and names none first.
- The file gives each country’s most recent reading, so the rows are from different years. Readings from before 2015 are listed but left out of every comparison on this page.
- Values are stored exactly as published and trimmed only for display. “The middle country” is the median of the countries measured, not a world average.
The file itself, column by column — where it came from, what each column holds, and every edition as a CSV — is on its dataset page.
Cite this page
Nations Inquiry (2026). Old-age pension coverage by country: Old-Age Pension Coverage, data from International Labour Organization (ILO). https://nationsinquiry.com/statistics/old-age-pension-coverage