The cost of social pensions

The chart summarises the cost of all social pensions worldwide. It shows that the majority of social pensions cost less than 1% of GDP.

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Out of 94 social pensions for which we have cost data, 60 cost less than 1% of GDP.
A further 18 countries have social pensions that cost between 1 and 2% of GDP.
This shows that social pensions are affordable across a wide range of economic and demographic context.

I now have my own money without being dependent on anyone. We were not used to see money regularly but now we do. This is a proud thing.

Female social pension recipient, Zanzibar

Explore where social pensions exist around the world, compare different approaches, and discover where gaps remain.

Find out how any country is designing and delivering pensions, who is covered, and what it costs.

Use our simple online tool to estimate the cost of a social pension for any country.