Pensions

UK to have lowest state pension amongst OECD countries

Written by Tonie McKay

A recent report published by OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) highlighted that the UK will have the lowest net replacement rate for future pensioners amongst OECD countries.

A person born in 1996 and having been in full-time employment from their 20s till retirement can expect to receive 29% of their pre-retirement earnings, whilst in the OECD and EU they will get an average of 63% and 70% respectively.

For those people who are very low earners in the UK, their pension replacement rate pre-retirement earnings will be 52%, whilst the EU average will be notably higher for low earners at 79%.

Currently, a total of 18.5% of pensioners in the UK aged 75+ have incomes below the poverty line. The main reason for this is the UK’s low level of state pension.

OECD countries

Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom and United States.

EU countries 

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

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About the author

Tonie McKay

Tonie is Business for Scotland's Policy Research Executive, and is an EU national who has chosen to make her home in Scotland, originally from Stockholm.

1 Comment

  • Thank you BfS for valuable insight into the UK pensions scandal.

    More information for pensioners on PensionersforIndependence.scot.
    Please visit the website and join a group.

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