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Kiwi pensions growing fast but still catching up

Wednesday 22nd of March 2023

New Zealand retirement savings assets grew 15% per annum in the decade ending 2021 and 20% in the year ending 2021 putting it among the top five countries of 90 reported in the latest OECD Global Pension Report.

New Zealand’s total pension assets as a percentage of GDP is 37.3%, way behind the leader Denmark at 233%, Iceland at 218%, the Netherlands at 213% and the United States with 174%. Australia’s pension assets make up 147% of GDP. The top ten in this category are all mandatory or quasi/mandatory plans.

Of the six countries using auto-enrolment plans with the ability to opt out, New Zealand has achieved the greatest coverage with 81% of the working-age population. The UK which uses the same approach has 52% coverage.

The report noted that coverage rates of pension plans are uneven across countries taking this approach but that 14 years since the launch of KiwiSaver, New Zealand has achieved a coverage rate close to countries with a mandatory system, with an increase of three percentage points per year since 2011.

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