ILO: Public pension is essential for basic income security for older persons

World Social Protection Report 2014-15: Building economic recovery, inclusive development and social justice. (June 2014)

Th first table shows the non-health public social protection expenditure on pensions and other benefits for older persons, 2010/11 (percentage of GDP). The second table shows the proportion of pensionable persons receiving pensions.

"It is essential that [older] persons are provided with reliable sources of income security throughout their old age.

Private, intra-family transfers may be important  ... but are very often far from sufficient and not always reliable, in particular for families already struggling to live on a low income.

For these reasons, public pension systems became in many countries a foundation on which at least basic income security has been built."

Where does your country stand?
Singapore is near the bottom. This is the root cause of the protest by older persons in Singapore.



Non-health public social protection expenditure on pensions and other benefits for older persons, 2010/11 (percentage of GDP)

High-income economies	Italy	15.557
High-income economies	France	14.105
High-income economies	Austria	13.998
High-income economies	Greece	13.156
High-income economies	Portugal	12.466
High-income economies	Poland	11.84
High-income economies	Japan	11.826
High-income economies	Finland	11.13
High-income economies	Germany	11.001
High-income economies	Slovenia	10.959
High-income economies	Sweden	10.752
High-income economies	Croatia	10.6
High-income economies	Malta	10.41
High-income economies	Belgium	10.199
High-income economies	Cyprus	9.905
High-income economies	Spain	9.884
High-income economies	Uruguay	8.9
High-income economies	Czech Republic	8.553
High-income economies	Latvia	8.388
High-income economies	Denmark	8.171
High-income economies	Estonia	8.07
High-income economies	Lithuania	7.891
High-income economies	Luxembourg	7.668
High-income economies	Norway	7.409
High-income economies	Slovakia	7.356
High-income economies	United States	6.885
High-income economies	Russian Federation	6.8
High-income economies	United Kingdom	6.764
High-income economies	Switzerland	6.558
High-income economies	Netherlands	6.066
High-income economies	Ireland	5.844
High-income economies	Israel	5.267
High-income economies	Australia	5.065
High-income economies	Taiwan, China	4.744
High-income economies	New Zealand	4.735
High-income economies	Canada	4.4
High-income economies	Aruba	4.3
High-income economies	Barbados	4.084
High-income economies	Kuwait	3.5
High-income economies	Chile	3.299
High-income economies	Trinidad and Tobago	2.8
High-income economies	Antigua and Barbuda	2.5
High-income economies	Korea, Rep. of	2.363
High-income economies	Iceland	2.218
High-income economies	Bahamas	1.928
High-income economies	Hong Kong, China	1.6
High-income economies	Saint Kitts and Nevis	1.3
High-income economies	Bahrain	1
High-income economies	Singapore	0.699
High-income economies	Equatorial Guinea	0.3

Old-age pension beneficiaries as a proportion of the population above statutory pensionable age,
latest available year (percentages)

High-income economies	Western Europe	Austria	100.0
High-income economies	Central and Eastern Europe	Czech Republic	100.0
High-income economies	Western Europe	Denmark	100.0
High-income economies	Western Europe	Finland	100.0
High-income economies	Western Europe	France	100.0
High-income economies	Western Europe	Germany	100.0
High-income economies	Western Europe	Iceland	100.0
High-income economies	Central and Eastern Europe	Latvia	100.0
High-income economies	Central and Eastern Europe	Lithuania	100.0
High-income economies	Western Europe	Netherlands	100.0
High-income economies	Western Europe	Norway	100.0
High-income economies	Western Europe	Portugal	100.0
High-income economies	Central and Eastern Europe	Russian Federation	100.0
High-income economies	Central and Eastern Europe	Slovakia	100.0
High-income economies	Western Europe	Switzerland	100.0
High-income economies	Western Europe	Sweden	100.0
High-income economies	Western Europe	United Kingdom	99.5
High-income economies	Latin America and the Caribbean	Trinidad and Tobago	98.7
High-income economies	Central and Eastern Europe	Estonia	98.0
High-income economies	Asia and the Pacific	New Zealand	98.0
High-income economies	North America	Canada	97.7
High-income economies	Central and Eastern Europe	Poland	96.5
High-income economies	Central and Eastern Europe	Slovenia	95.1
High-income economies	North America	United States	92.5
High-income economies	Western Europe	Ireland	90.5
High-income economies	Western Europe	Luxembourg	90.0
High-income economies	Western Europe	Cyprus	85.2
High-income economies	Western Europe	Belgium	84.6
High-income economies	Latin America and the Caribbean	Bahamas	84.2
High-income economies	Asia and the Pacific	Australia	83.0
High-income economies	Asia and the Pacific	Brunei Darussalam	81.7
High-income economies	Western Europe	Italy	81.1
High-income economies	Asia and the Pacific	Japan	80.3
High-income economies	Latin America and the Caribbean	Aruba	79.3
High-income economies	Asia and the Pacific	Korea, Rep. of	77.6
High-income economies	Western Europe	Greece	77.4
High-income economies	Latin America and the Caribbean	Uruguay	76.5
High-income economies	Latin America and the Caribbean	Chile	74.5
High-income economies	Middle East	Israel	73.6
High-income economies	Asia and the Pacific	Hong Kong, China	72.9
High-income economies	Latin America and the Caribbean	Antigua and Barbuda	69.7
High-income economies	Latin America and the Caribbean	Barbados	68.3
High-income economies	Western Europe	Spain	68.2
High-income economies	Western Europe	Malta	60.5
High-income economies	Central and Eastern Europe	Croatia	57.6
High-income economies	Latin America and the Caribbean	Saint Kitts and Nevis	44.7
High-income economies	Middle East	Bahrain	40.1
High-income economies	Middle East	Kuwait	27.3
High-income economies	Middle East	Oman	24.7
High-income economies	Middle East	Qatar	7.9
High-income economies	Asia and the Pacific	Singapore	0.0