India ranks 41th spot out of 44 in Mercer CFS Global Pension Index

Mercer CFS Global Pension Index pointed out that the country needs to strengthen its regulatory framework and boost the coverage under private pension arrangements

As compared to 40th out of 43 countries in 2021, India ranked 41 out of 44 countries in the Mercer CFS Global Pension Index. The survey pointed out that the country needs to strengthen its regulatory framework and boost the coverage under private pension arrangements, according to a report by Economic Times (ET). 

"In the absence of social security coverage in the country, the adequacy and sustainability sub-indices can be improved significantly by boosting coverage under private pension arrangements," the report based on the survey said. 

Mercer CFS Global Pension Index studies 44 countries that account for 65 per cent of the world's population. 

The index value was up from 2021 but below that in 2020. In 2020, India ranked 34 out of 39 countries with a value of 45.7. In 2022, the index value was 44.4. 

The index measures the pension system in the country under three sub-heads, adequacy, sustainability and integrity. India's score in these three measurements was 33.5, 41.8 and 61 respectively.

The survey was topped by Iceland, the Netherlands and Denmark. Thailand had the lowest rating of 41.7. 

The survey also highlighted that the penetration of private investment in India is low. With 95 per cent of the total workforce being in the unorganised sector, there needs to be an improvement in pension arrangements. 

"There is hope that new labour codes, when implemented, would give access to such coverage and drive the necessary improvement in the adequacy and sustainability sub-indices," it added, as per ET.