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Global Pension Index 2025: Top 10 countries with the best pension systems: Where does India rank?

Global pension index 2025, Top 10 countries with the best pension systems for retirees: Singapore made history as the first Asian country to achieve an A-grade, listed among the best pension systems globally in 2025.

2 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Oct 30, 2025 09:50 AM IST

Top 10 countries with the best pension systems for retirees: India sits at the bottom, check the rankings. (Representational Image)

Top 10 countries with the best pension systems for retirees: Pension systems worldwide are facing challenges as people live longer, have fewer children, and have a dynamic labour market and uncertain economies.

This year, Mercer, a global consulting firm, added Kuwait, Namibia, Oman, and Panama to its Global Pension Index, now covering 52 retirement systems and representing 65 per cent of the world’s population.

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Once again, the Netherlands, Iceland, and Denmark achieve coveted A-grades, driven by their robust and sustainable retirement income system that delivers good benefits and has a high level of integrity.

Singapore notably made history as the first Asian country to achieve an A-grade, ranking among the best pension systems globally in 2025.

Reflecting a long-term trend of increasing resilience in pension systems worldwide, eight countries moved up with none slipping down on the index.

Global Pension Index 2025: Top 10 countries with the best pension systems worldwide

Rank	Country	Overall Grade	Total	Adequacy	Sustainability	Integrity
1	Netherlands	A	85.4	86.1	83.5	86.8
2	Iceland	A	84	83	85.7	83.3
3	Denmark	A	82.3	82.9	85	77.6
4	Singapore	A	80.8	79.4	75.5	90.4
5	Israel	A	80.3	75.6	83.2	83.6
6	Sweden	B+	78.2	76.8	76.3	83
7	Australia	B+	77.6	69	81.1	86.4
8	Chile	B+	76.6	71.9	74.9	86.6
9	Finland	B+	76.6	77.4	65.6	90.6
10	Norway	B+	76	77.8	65.2	88.4

Source: Mercer and CFA Institute – Global Pension Index 2025

Where does India rank on the Global Pension Index 2025?

India scores 43.8 in the overall rating, placing it firmly in the D-grade category and ranking it at the bottom, alongside Türkiye, the Philippines, Thailand, and Argentina.

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As per the report, India’s grade indicates “a system that has some desirable features but also has major weaknesses that need to be addressed; without these improvements, its efficacy and sustainability are in doubt“.

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Cherry Gupta

Cherry Gupta is an Assistant Manager – Content at The Indian Express. She leads the Top 10 section, curating list-based features on key national and international developments, and manages daily news content. She also produces SEO-driven articles and collaborates with the Lifestyle team to conduct interviews with notable artists and write workplace culture features. ... Read More