Mercer CFA Institute Global Pension Index 2025 has been published
The 2025 version of the Mercer CFA Institute Global Pension Index 2025 is here. The primary objective of the index is to benchmark retirement income systems worldwide using more than 50 indicators. With the inclusion of Kuwait, Namibia, Oman, and Panama this year, the report now includes 52 retirement systems, representing 65% of the world’s population. It compares these systems across three key factors: adequacy (current benefits), sustainability (future viability), and integrity (regulation).
Comparing pension systems globally is valuable for policymakers but not simple. Systems vary based on unique cultural, economic, and historical contexts. As people live longer and labor markets evolve, pension systems face mounting pressure to adapt. The information on the resilience of the pension systems are important indicators on how financially secure both the future pensioners’ but also the wider economies are.
The top-ranking pension systems with A grade status belong to the Netherlands, Iceland, Denmark, Singapore, and Israel. These nations offer strong benefits, sound regulation, and solid asset bases. Finland reached this year to grade B+ with countries Sweden, Australia, Chile and Norway. Like last year, Finland gained an A score for Integrity, with B+ score in Adequacy, and B in Sustainability.
The overall index value for the Finnish system could potentially be increased by:
Increasing the minimum level of support for the poorest aged individuals
Raising the level of household savings and reducing the level of household debt
Continuing to raise the level of mandatory contributions set aside for future retirement benefits, thereby also increasing the level of assets over time
Introducing arrangements to protect the pension interests of both parties in a divorce
The Finnish index value increased slightly from 75.9 in 2024 to 76.6 in 2025, primarily due to the new question in the Sustainability sub-index.