Singapore’s Central Provident Fund (CPF) system has been rated the best retirement pension system in Asia for 17 consecutive years, and for the first time has achieved the top A grade rating, ranking 4th among 52 countries and regions—an improvement of one position from last year.
Other than Singapore, Malaysia has the highest overall score among the evaluated countries in Southeast Asia.
US consulting firm Mercer, the CFA Institute, and Monash University Business School in Australia released their annual report on the 15th, publishing the 2025 Global Pension Index Rankings.
The report evaluates the pension systems of 52 countries and regions worldwide based on sustainability, trustworthiness, and adequacy.
Singapore achieved an overall score of 80.8, receiving an A grade (above 80 points) for the first time. It is the only country in Asia with an A grade, with a score just behind the Netherlands (85.4 points), Iceland (84 points), and Denmark (82.3 points), and above Israel (80.3 points).
For the trustworthiness evaluation, Singapore’s CPF system scored 90.4 points, ranking 2nd globally, behind only Finland.
Malaysia Improves Its Score from Last Year
Among other Asian countries and regions on the list, Malaysia scored 60.6 (C+ grade). Malaysia’s total score last year was 56.3.
Malaysia’s overall score is higher than China’s 56.7, Japan’s 56.3, and South Korea’s 53.9.
In the Southeast Asia evaluation, Malaysia’s score also surpassed Indonesia’s 51.0, while Thailand and Vietnam scored 50.6 and 53.7 respectively.
For the categories of adequacy, sustainability, and trustworthiness, Malaysia received scores of 54.0 (C grade), 55.9 (C grade), and 77.5 (B+ grade) respectively.
Malaysia’s retirement pension system is based on the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), which covers all employees in the private and public sectors who are not included under the government pension fund (KWAP).