Asia’s pension systems need modernising urgently to deliver secure, sustainable and adequate retirement incomes for today’s workers, according to a new OECD report.

Gross replacement rates, showing pension benefit as a share of individual lifetime average earnings, also vary greatly across Asia/Pacific, from 12.7% in Singapore to 80.9% in the Philippines. Those in South Asia tend, on average, to have higher rates at 65% for India and 69% for Pakistan, with Sri Lanka being lower at 49%. In South East Asia both Malaysia and Hong Kong are around 30% whilst China is at 77.9% for average earners. The OECD average is 57%.