As a British pensioner you can expect an average income that compares poorly with the amount retirees from other countries have to spend, according to data from a leading think tank.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) looked at retirement incomes around the world and worked out how pensions compare with the average worker’s wage.
Britain fared poorly.
The income of a retiree aged 65 years old or over is 76.10% of average income – ranking 28th but still ahead of seven other countries, including the popular UK expat retirement destinations of Ireland and Australia.
Brazil’s retirees best off financially
Top of the table was Brazil, where retirees pick up 122.5% of average income.
Other top scorers were India (116.9%); Chile (101.5%) and France (100.1). The USA was eighth at 90% and Germany 14th scoring 85.8%.
Rather than a direct comparison of how much each retiree is paid, the data looks at how much income they receive compared with the average worker’s wage.
This allows country-to-country comparisons.
The study is published every two years with the last edition released in November 2019.
Incomes of older people, 2016 or latest available year
Average income by age group as a percentage of average income of total population and ranked by average in come for all aged over 65 by 2010
Country | All aged over 65 | Aged 66-75 | Aged over 75 | All aged over 65 by 2010 |
Brazil | 117.7 | 117.5 | 118.1 | 122.5 |
India | 108.5 | 106.8 | 112.2 | 116.9 |
Chile | 93.5 | 95.8 | 90.0 | 101.5 |
France | 103.2 | 107.6 | 97.7 | 100.1 |
Poland | 88.7 | 89.3 | 87.8 | 96.0 |
Canada | 90.5 | 94.1 | 84.9 | 94.3 |
Turkey | 86.0 | 89.1 | 81.1 | 90.0 |
United States | 93.8 | 102.1 | 80.9 | 90.0 |
Hungary | 94.5 | 95.7 | 92.5 | 89.2 |
Japan | 87.8 | 89.7 | 85.5 | 88.7 |
Italy | 99.6 | 107.8 | 91.4 | 87.9 |
Austria | 93.8 | 97.1 | 89.8 | 87.0 |
Mexico | 92.5 | 97.6 | 84.4 | 86.0 |
Germany | 88.6 | 92.5 | 85.1 | 85.8 |
Sweden | 85.5 | 97.0 | 68.1 | 85.8 |
Spain | 95.3 | 102.9 | 86.9 | 84.8 |
Slovenia | 89.6 | 93.2 | 84.0 | 84.6 |
Netherlands | 85.6 | 91.2 | 76.9 | 84.1 |
Switzerland | 80.0 | 84.5 | 73.8 | 81.7 |
Finland | 83.2 | 90.5 | 73.1 | 81.6 |
Israel | 101.2 | 109.7 | 88.9 | 80.7 |
Iceland | 94.3 | 100.5 | 84.7 | 80.6 |
Slovak Republic | 87.2 | 90.6 | 81.0 | 80.6 |
Portugal | 99.0 | 109.7 | 86.9 | 80.5 |
New Zealand | 86.2 | 95.4 | 71.1 | 79.0 |
Czech Republic | 75.6 | 78.9 | 69.6 | 78.5 |
Greece | 96.8 | 103.4 | 89.4 | 77.9 |
United Kingdom | 83.6 | 90.6 | 73.9 | 76.1 |
Belgium | 79.7 | 84.1 | 74.9 | 73.7 |
Lithuania | 74.1 | 81.6 | 65.2 | 73.4 |
Latvia | 71.3 | 78.3 | 63.5 | 72.9 |
Norway | 91.6 | 101.1 | 77.0 | 72.4 |
Denmark | 80.9 | 86.2 | 72.7 | 70.7 |
Ireland | 84.1 | 89.8 | 75.6 | 70.0 |
Australia | 72.3 | 77.9 | 63.9 | 66.4 |
This is not particularly helpful. It would have been far more useful if this article listed the basic and average pension of each country when converted to pounds sterling. This article still leaves the reader to go away and calculate through the differing systems, pillars, and currency conversions.