Average pensions around the world

Описание: 💶 Average annual pensions differ dramatically around the world — and the gap between the highest and lowest can be huge.

Our list shows how much, on average, each country spends per beneficiary in old-age pensions. Let’s see how countries compare.

At the top, 🇮🇸 Iceland stands out with nearly €36k a year. This reflects high wages during working life, strong contributions, and a system designed to keep retirees close to their pre-retirement income.

🇱🇺 Luxembourg (€31,835) – Small, wealthy population; generous state pensions combined with strong private schemes.

🇳🇴 Norway (€30,879) & 🇩🇰 Denmark (€30,211) – High taxes fund strong welfare states with stable retirement incomes.

🇺🇸 United States (€21,088) – Social Security plus workplace and private pensions; benefits alone often fall short, so additional income sources matter.

🇬🇧 United Kingdom (€21,051) – Average after-tax pensioner income from state and workplace pensions; State Pension alone is much smaller.

🇨🇦 Canada (€20,841) – Average after-tax retirement income from public pensions (CPP, OAS, GIS) and workplace pensions.

One thing to consider is that countries with the highest pensions on our list also tend to have higher living costs, whereas many Southern European countries offer a more affordable — and often very desirable — lifestyle, especially for and by seniors.

So — would you rather retire where payouts are highest, or is cost of living the bigger factor for you?

*Method (U.S., 2022, gross): Median annual pension amounts by type (PRC/CPS PINC-08) were averaged as a proxy, then scaled by 33% (share of retirees with any pension). We added the SSA average retired-worker benefit ($19,884) scaled by 90% coverage. Result ≈ $24.6k per retiree/year (pension-only ≈ $6.7k). Estimate; not weighted by pension type; medians mixed with mean SS.

📌 Sources: PRC (CPS PINC-08, 2022); SSA – COLA Fact Sheet & Fast Facts (2022); Eurostat – pension expenditure & beneficiaries (2022); Statistics Canada – Canadian Income Survey (2022); UK Gov – Pensioners’ Incomes Series (FYE 2022).

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