Pension authorities and other bodies provided the primary source material for this report, as part of the OECD/IOPS/ World Bank Global Pension Statistics (GPS) exercise. Data come from official administrative sources and are revised on an ongoing basis so as to better reflect the most recent figures for every past year. Some divergences may exist between national reporting standards and the compilation method of certain data for the GPS exercise. For this reason, data providers are regularly requested to provide methodological information relevant for developing a thorough understanding of their submission under the GPS framework. The general and specific methodological notes below provide some explanations in this respect.
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Annex C. Methodological notes
Copy link to Annex C. Methodological notesGeneral notes
Copy link to General notesConventional signs: “..” means not available. “|” means methodological break in series.
This report is mainly based on the answers of pension authorities and other bodies to an annual data request. Some statistics for some jurisdictions come from publicly available reports, databases or websites of other national or international organisations: Japan (Bank of Japan) and Switzerland (Federal Social Insurance Office’s publication Statistique des assurances sociales suisses for personal plans) among OECD countries; and Argentina (International Association of Pension Fund Supervisors (AIOS)), Bolivia (AIOS), China (People’s Republic of) (Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS)), Croatia (website of the Croatian Financial Services Supervisory Agency (HANFA) before 2014), the Dominican Republic (AIOS before 2014), El Salvador (AIOS), India (annual reports of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation for Employees’ Provident Fund, Employees’ Pension Scheme and Employees’ Deposit Linked Insurance Scheme), Panama (AIOS) and Uruguay (AIOS before 2016) among non-OECD jurisdictions.
Data on stock variables refer to the end of the year while data on flow variables are provided over the whole year in the report. The reference period is the calendar year, except for: Australia where the reference period is the financial year ending in June; India where the reference period ends in March of the following year for Employees’ Provident Fund, Employees’ Pension Scheme and Employees’ Deposit Linked Insurance Scheme; and New Zealand (until 2014). Data for New Zealand up to 2013 are based on a 31 March balance date for most of the schemes.
Slovenia adopted the euro in 2007, the Slovak Republic in 2009, Estonia in 2011, Latvia in 2014, Lithuania in 2015 and Croatia in 2023. The whole time series (in millions of national currency) are expressed in millions of euros for these countries (even before their adoption of the euro).
This report uses four main additional reference series: exchange rates to convert values in US dollars, GDP, the variation of the consumer price index (CPI) and population:
This report uses end-of-period exchange rates for all variables valued at the end of the year, and period-average rates for variables representing a flow over the year. These rates mainly come from the OECD Annual Purchasing Power Parities and Exchange Rates and the IMF International Financial Statistics databases.
GDP values come from the OECD Annual and Quarterly National Accounts databases for OECD countries; and from the IMF World Economic Outlook released in April 2024 for all the other jurisdictions except Gibraltar (Abstract of Statistics 2015 of the Statistics Office of Gibraltar), Isle of Man (the National Income webpage of the Official Isle of Man Government website) and Liechtenstein (UN National Accounts Main Aggregates Database).
Consumer price indices are from the OECD Consumer Price Indices database or from the IMF International Financial Statistics database except for Albania in 2023 (IMF World Economic Outlook of April 2024), Gibraltar (Abstract of Statistics 2015 of the Statistics Office of Gibraltar), Malawi in 2023 (IMF World Economic Outlook of April 2024), Papua New Guinea (World Bank Consumer Price Index database) and Suriname in 2023 (IMF World Economic Outlook of April 2024).
Data on population are from the OECD Working-age Population database and World Bank World Development Indicators.
Specific notes
Copy link to Specific notesThis chart shows the amount of assets in all OECD pension providers and public pension reserve funds (PPRFs) for which data are available in a given year. It covers a few more PPRFs in 2022 than in 2023 but their size is small relative to the total assets (less than 5% of total assets in PPRFs).
The charts show the nominal growth rates of assets of pension providers (Panel A) and public pension reserve funds (Panel B) expressed in national currency. Data for public pension reserve funds refer to: Future Fund for Australia; the reserves of Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and Quebec Pension Plan (QPP) for Canada; Pension Reserve Fund (PRF) for Chile; the Social Security Fund for Costa Rica; Keva and the State Pension Fund (VER) for Finland; AGIRC-ARRCO and Fonds de Réserves pour les Retraites (FRR) for France; National Insurance Fund (NIF) for Israel; Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) for Japan; National Pension Fund (NPF) for Korea; Fonds de Compensation (FDC) for Luxembourg; the Labour Fund for Mexico; the New Zealand (NZ) Superannuation Fund for New Zealand; the Government Pension Fund - Norway (GPFN) for Norway; Demographic Reserve Fund (DRF) for Poland; the Social Security Financial Stabilisation Fund (FEFSS) for Portugal; the Social Security Reserve Fund (SSRF) for Spain; AP1-AP4 and AP6 for Sweden; the AHV Central Compensation Fund for Switzerland; the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) Trust Fund for the United States. (1) Data refer to pension funds only.
Data for public pension reserve funds refer to: Future Fund for Australia; the reserves of Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and Quebec Pension Plan (QPP) for Canada; Pension Reserve Fund (PRF) for Chile; the Social Security Fund for Costa Rica; Keva and the State Pension Fund (VER) for Finland; AGIRC-ARRCO, Fonds de Réserves pour les Retraites (FRR) and the reserves of special regimes for France; National Insurance Fund (NIF) for Israel; Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) for Japan; National Pension Fund (NPF) for Korea; Fonds de Compensation (FDC) for Luxembourg; the Labour Fund for Mexico; the New Zealand (NZ) Superannuation Fund for New Zealand; the Government Pension Fund - Norway (GPFN) for Norway; Demographic Reserve Fund (DRF) for Poland; the Social Security Financial Stabilisation Fund (FEFSS) for Portugal; the Social Security Reserve Fund (SSRF) for Spain; AP1-AP4 and AP6 for Sweden; the AHV Central Compensation Fund for Switzerland; the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) Trust Fund for the United States.
This chart shows the nominal growth rates of assets of pension providers expressed in national currency. (1) Data cover voluntary plans only.
The charts are based on the annual investment rates of return reported in the statistical annex of the report. Please refer to the notes of this statistical annex for more country or fund-specific notes. The annual returns are calculated over the period December 2022-December 2023 except for: pension providers in Australia (June 2022-June 2023); and Canada's CPP reserves (March 2023-March 2024), Japan's GPIF (March 2023-March 2024), New Zealand Superannuation Fund (June 2022-June 2023).
The "Other" category includes loans, land and buildings, unallocated insurance contracts, hedge funds, private equity funds, structured products, other mutual funds (i.e. not invested in equities, bills and bonds or cash and deposits) and other investments. Negative values (due to derivatives) have been excluded from the calculations of the allocation of pension assets. The Global Pension Statistics exercise gathers information on investments of pension plan assets in collective investment schemes (CIS) and the look-through of these investments in equities, bills and bonds, cash and deposits and other. Data on asset allocation in this Figure include both direct investments in equities, bills and bonds, cash and deposits and indirect investments through CIS when the look-through of CIS investments is available. In such case, the Figure shows the overall exposure of pension plan assets in the selected asset classes. When the look-through is not available, the Figure only shows the direct investments of pension plan assets in equities, bills and bonds, cash and deposits and other assets, and investments in collective investment schemes are shown in a separate category.
(1) Data refer to the second pension pillar. (2) Data refer to occupational pension plans only. (3) Data refer to personal pension plans only. (4) Data refer to pension funds only. (5) The excess of contributions over expenditure is calculated as the difference between contributions and the sum of benefits and operating expenses. (6) Data refer to pension funds and book reserves only. (7) Data refer to NPS and APY schemes. (8) Data refer to voluntary plans only.
Other PPRFs include Canada's reserve of the Quebec Pension Plan, Chile's Pension Reserve Fund, the Costa Rican Social Security Fund, Finland's Keva, Finland's State Pension Fund, France's AGIRC-ARRCO (2022-2023 only), France's Fonds de Réserves pour les Retraites, France's reserves of special regimes (2023 only), Germany's Sustainability Fund (2021-2022 only), Israel's National Insurance Fund, Italy's Privatised funds under L.D 509/1994 and L.D 103/1996 (2021-2022 only), Korea's Government Employees Pension Fund (2021-2022 only), Luxembourg's Fonds de Compensation, Mexico's Labour Fund, New Zealand Superannuation Fund, the Government Pension Fund - Norway (GPFN), Poland's Demographic Reserve Fund, Portugal's Social Security Financial Stabilisation Fund, Spain's Social Security Reserve Fund, Switzerland's AHV Central Compensation Fund and the UK's National Insurance Fund (2021-2022 only). The difference in PPRFs covered in the "other PPRFs" may distort the trend marginally.
The percent change of assets is calculated as the difference between the value of assets at end-2023 and at end-2021 over the value of assets at end-2021 in USD. The charts show the results of the calculations based on values in USD on the x-axis, and those based on values in national currency on the y-axis. The results are not shown for Türkiye (36.9% based on USD values, 210.5% based on values in national currency) nor for Spain's PPRF (154.6% in USD values, 160.9% in national currency) for readability purposes.
The charts show the level of assets at end-2022 and at end-2023 relative to end-2021 (the reference, set at 100%). A level at 90 relative to 100 indicates a 10% decline in assets. By contrast, a level at 110 indicates a 10% increase in assets. The levels for Türkiye are not shown for readability purposes (179.1% at end-2022 and 310.5 at end-2023). The level at end-2023 is not shown for Georgia (222.2%) nor for Spain's Social Security Reserve Fund (260.9%) for readability purposes. (1) Data cover voluntary plans only.
The charts show the nominal investment rates of return (IRRs) in 2022 (x-axis) and in 2023 (y-axis). The curve shows the break-even rate: the investment gains (resp. losses) to record the following year to fully offset the losses (resp. lose the gains) of the previous year. Jurisdictions above the curve managed to record positive investment gains over the two years while those above recorded a loss. Pension providers in Türkiye recorded a nominal investment rate of return of 49.6% in 2022 and 46% in 2023, not shown for readability purposes.
The excess of contributions over expenditure for 2022 is calculated as the difference between the change in assets between end-2021 and end-2022 and the investment income (net of investment expenses) earned during 2022. It is expressed as a percentage of assets at end-2021. Likewise, the excess of contributions over expenditure for 2022 and 2023 is calculated as the difference between the change in assets between end-2021 and end-2023 and the investment income (net of investment expenses) earned during 2022 and 2023. It is expressed as a percentage of assets at end-2021. Expenditure includes benefit payments to retirees, early withdrawals, administrative expenses and other operating expenses, and transfers out of the system. (1) Data cover voluntary plans only.
The chart shows the amount of assets at the end of each year, from end-2001 to end-2023, based on annual data. The total amounts of assets at the end of a given year are calculated on all the jurisdictions and funds for which a value is available. The number of jurisdictions and funds that the totals include may therefore vary over the years. Totals are expressed in current prices.
(1) Data refer to pension funds only. (2) Data refer to personal pension plans only. (3) Data exclude ERAFP and CAVP. (4) Data cover closed and open pension funds and personal retirement saving funds (established as pension funds or as collective investment schemes managed by investment companies). (5) Data cover voluntary plans only.
(1) Data cover voluntary plans only.
The average allocations of pension plan assets have been calculated over 15 jurisdictions: Austria, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Slovenia (from 2003 onwards), Sweden, Türkiye (from 2004 onwards) and the United States among OECD countries; and Bulgaria, Hong Kong (China) (from 2002 onwards) and Peru among other jurisdictions. The whole time series of the asset allocation in each of these 15 jurisdictions are available in the statistical annex of this publication. The asset allocation of pension plans in 2019 in Korea and in 2011 in Türkiye are OECD estimates based on the data available for the year before and after the missing year.
The excess of contributions over expenditure for a given is calculated as the difference between the change in assets between the end of the given year and the previous one and the investment income (net of investment expenses) earned during that given year. The average annual excess of contributions over expenditure over a given number of years is calculated as the sum of the excess over these years divided by the number of years covered. The result is expressed as a percentage of total assets at end-2023. (1) Data cover voluntary plans only.
The charts show the proportion of the working-age population participating in a pension arrangement at two different times: 1. the last year, which is the latest year from 2020 for which data is available; 2. the first year, which is the earliest date for which data is available. The first year is only shown if it is at least 5 years earlier than the last year (except when the type of plan was introduced within the 5 years). The first-year data refers to is shown as a label in blue, the last year in black.
A plan is classified as mandatory/quasi-mandatory, automatic enrolment, voluntary occupational or voluntary personal according to the way members access the plan in the last year shown. The access to the plan between the first and last year shown may have changed in some countries (e.g. Slovak Republic that introduced automatic enrolment in 2023).
See Annex B for the full time series and more specific notes on jurisdictions.
The charts show the evolution of the liabilities (measured by the net technical provisions) of defined benefit (DB) plans at the end of each year. All liabilities of DB plans (instead of technical provisions only) are considered for Ireland and the United States. Data for Finland refer to DB plans in pension funds only. Data for Luxembourg refer to DB traditional plans under the supervision of the CSSF. Data for the Netherlands and Switzerland include all types of pension funds. Data for the United Kingdom come from the Purple Book 2023 published by the Pension Protection Fund and show the liabilities valued on an s179 basis (instead of net technical provisions). Liabilities for Hong Kong (China) refer to the amount of aggregated past service liability in DB ORSO schemes. Data for Indonesia cover DB EPFs only.
The funding ratio is calculated as the ratio of total investment and net technical provisions for DB plans managed by pension funds using values reported by national authorities in the OECD questionnaire. All liabilities of DB plans (instead of technical provisions only) are considered for Ireland and the United States. Data for Finland refer to DB plans in pension funds only. Data for Luxembourg refer to DB traditional plans under the supervision of the CSSF. Data for the Netherlands and Switzerland include all types of pension funds. Data for the United Kingdom come from the Purple Book 2023 published by the Pension Protection Fund and show the ratio of assets and liabilities valued on an s179 basis (instead of net technical provisions). Liabilities for Hong Kong (China) refer to the amount of aggregated past service liability in DB ORSO schemes. Data for Indonesia cover DB EPFs only.
(1) Scope of the note Pension Funds in Figures (renamed Pension Markets in Focus - Preliminary data on pension funds) until 2022; and scope of the full report Pension Markets in Focus before the 2017 edition. (2) Scope of the OECD Global Pension Statistics exercise; scope of the note Pension Markets in Focus - Preliminary data since 2023; scope the full report Pension Markets in Focus since the 2017 edition until 2022. (3) Scope of Pension Markets in Focus since the 2023 edition.