State Pension by country: the UK's mandatory pensions replace 54.2% of a median earner's take-home pay, below the OECD average of 63.2%.

Comparing the State Pension by country is harder than a single league table suggests, because each country mixes state, workplace and private pensions in its own way and taxes them differently. The figures here come from the Pensions Commission's interim report, Pensions 2050, published on GOV.UK on 15 June 2026 and drawing on the OECD's Pensions at a Glance 2025. Weighing your own retirement income against these figures? A talk about where the State Pension leaves your budget is on offer through the form on this page, held by an FCA-authorised adviser who does not charge for the call.

State pension by country: where the UK sits

The government set up the Pensions Commission in July 2025, and its interim report compares the UK with other OECD countries. Its headline measure is the net replacement rate: the share of a worker's take-home pay that the pension system keeps paying after retirement. For the UK the report counts mandatory pensions only, meaning the State Pension and the automatic enrolment minimum contributions, not voluntary saving.

  • Median earner: 54.2% in the UK, against an OECD average of 63.2%.
  • Lower earner: 76.2% in the UK, slightly above the OECD average of 75.4%.
  • Higher earner: 39.5% in the UK, well below the OECD average of 52.9%.

Put plainly, a median earner in the UK can expect the State Pension and minimum workplace saving together to replace just over half of take-home pay, against just under two-thirds on average across the OECD. Anything you save voluntarily on top, such as a personal pension or extra workplace contributions, sits outside these figures.

Spending points the same way. The report puts UK spending on State Pensions, pensioner benefits and mandatory private saving at 7.6% of GDP, a lower share than most other advanced economies and below the OECD average of 9.4%, which it notes excludes passported benefits.

For a sense of the UK amount itself, DWP's full rate of the new State Pension is £241.30 a week for 2026/27. How your own figure is built from your National Insurance record is covered in how much State Pension you will get.

Why the UK can look low, and where it does better

It depends what is being compared. The report describes the UK's basic pension entitlements as above average, yet it also finds the second highest gender pensions gap in the OECD, with a difference of over 35% between the average pension income of men and women. It adds that OECD indicators show a notably higher share of older people in the UK at risk of relative income poverty (before housing costs) than in leading European comparators.

Part of the explanation is how the system grew. Looking back to the first Pensions Commission in the 2000s, the report describes a UK public pension pillar that was relatively less generous than in other advanced economies, with private pensions forming a far larger share of retirement income. It credits the new State Pension with being simpler and more generous, but says the UK's replacement rates through the State Pension and automatic enrolment alone are still internationally low.

Whole-system rankings land in a similar place. The report notes that the Mercer CFA Institute Global Pension Index 2025 rates the UK a B-grade system, mid-table globally, scoring it well on integrity and adequacy but behind several leading systems on sustainability.

The report itself warns that direct comparisons between pension systems are difficult, because countries vary in levels of taxation and in other savings or sources of income. The age at which a pension starts matters too: the report says the UK's State Pension age is not low by international standards, and State Pension age by country sets out the ages. Your own position against these averages turns on your National Insurance record and any other savings, which an adviser can check alongside you at no charge after a request made with the enquiry form here.

Which countries pay the UK State Pension with yearly increases?

If you are comparing countries as a place to retire, the UK State Pension is paid worldwide, but it rises each year only in some places. DWP's guidance names two groups: the European Economic Area (EEA) plus Switzerland, and any country whose social security agreement with the UK allows cost of living increases to the State Pension. The guidance says you will "usually" get the increase there, so confirm your own case before relying on it.

EEA countries and Switzerland

DWP's list of EEA countries is Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden. Switzerland is treated in the same way.

Other countries with a social security agreement

These agreements are sometimes called bilateral or reciprocal agreements, and they protect the social security rights of workers who move between the two countries. The countries on DWP's list, outside the EEA and Switzerland, are:

  • Barbados
  • Bermuda
  • Bosnia-Herzegovina
  • Gibraltar
  • Guernsey
  • the Isle of Man
  • Israel
  • Jamaica
  • Jersey
  • Kosovo
  • Mauritius
  • Montenegro
  • North Macedonia
  • the Philippines
  • Serbia
  • Turkey
  • the USA

GOV.UK's guide to retiring abroad still links to this DWP list, which carries its original publication date of 9 June 2014, so ask the International Pension Centre (IPC) to confirm a country before you move.

Where does the State Pension stay frozen?

Anywhere not covered above. GOV.UK's guide to retiring abroad is plain that living outside those places means no yearly increases. The pension is still paid; what you miss is the annual rise that people in the UK, and in the places listed earlier, receive.

Two countries are easy to get wrong. The UK has social security agreements with Canada and New Zealand, yet DWP says you cannot get a yearly increase in your UK State Pension if you live in either. So a country having an agreement is not enough on its own: the agreement has to allow increases.

A few well-known retirement destinations are not on DWP's list at all, including Australia and South Africa, which means no yearly increases there. If your destination is not named in the section above, treat it as frozen unless the IPC tells you otherwise.

For someone living in a frozen country, the weekly amount stays at the rate they started on rather than following the yearly rises covered in how much the State Pension goes up each April and what the triple lock is, and the gap between them and a UK pensioner can grow with each year they are away. GOV.UK adds that on returning to live in the UK, your pension goes up to the current rate. Whether a move still makes sense with a frozen pension depends on your whole budget, and the enquiry form here gets you a call-back from an adviser at no charge.

Claiming from abroad, how payments reach an overseas bank and the life certificate are covered in moving abroad with your pensions and UK pensions for expats; tax is in UK pension tax when living abroad. There is more on topping up from abroad, Pension Credit abroad and a widow's pension abroad.

Comparing pensions across borders: six more answers

Is the UK State Pension the lowest in Europe?

Not on the Pensions Commission's measures. It describes UK basic pension entitlements as above average and puts lower earners slightly above the OECD average replacement rate; the UK falls behind for median and higher earners, and on old-age poverty against leading European comparators.

Which country has the best state pension?

There is no single answer, because it depends on the measure. On replacement rates the OECD average is above the UK for median and higher earners, while whole-system rankings such as the Mercer CFA Institute index also score sustainability and integrity, not just the amount paid. The Pensions Commission's own caution is that differences in tax and other income make direct comparisons difficult.

Does the UK State Pension go up if I live in Spain or France?

Yes, usually. Both are in the EEA, and DWP says people in the EEA or Switzerland usually get an increase every year.

Why is my State Pension frozen in Australia or South Africa?

Neither is in the EEA or on DWP's list of agreement countries that allow increases, and GOV.UK says there are no yearly increases outside those places. Returning to live in the UK takes the pension up to the current rate.

Do people in the UK stop work earlier than elsewhere?

On average, yes. The Pensions Commission reports that women in the UK typically leave work 4 years earlier than in the US, New Zealand or Japan, and men 2 years earlier than in Ireland, even though the UK's State Pension age is not low.

If I worked in another country, do I claim its pension separately?

For an EEA country or Switzerland, no: when you apply for the new State Pension you are asked about work abroad, and the IPC sends your claim to those schemes. For any other country, contact the pension authority in the last country you lived or worked in.

Where to start

The IPC can advise people who have already retired and are thinking about moving abroad on how the pension may be affected, and MoneyHelper gives free guidance on pensions. For the wider picture, how the UK State Pension works covers the basics. Pulling your State Pension, other pots and a possible move into a single talk is what the enquiry form here is for: an FCA-authorised adviser phones back and charges nothing for that.

Sources, accessed 27 October 2026: Pensions Commission, Pensions 2050: evidence and future priorities, interim report (GOV.UK, 15 June 2026), citing OECD, Pensions at a Glance 2025; GOV.UK, State Pension if you retire abroad; DWP, Countries where we pay an annual increase in the State Pension (published 9 June 2014); GOV.UK, The new State Pension: How to claim; DWP, benefit and pension rates 2026 to 2027.