Investor sentiment

2025 Global Retirement Index

September 08, 2025 - 5 min

Executive Director, Natixis Center for Investor Insight – Natixis Investment Managers – US Distribution

Norway has regained the top position in the 2025 Natixis Global Retirement Index, driven by its strong performance in health outcomes, low unemployment and high-income equality. Ireland surges to second place, thanks to improvements in inflation and an economic environment that supports retirement security.

Since its launch in 2012, the Natixis Global Retirement Index has offered a comparative assessment of retirement security in 44 developed countries. The index evaluated 18 key indicators grouped into four subindexes: Finances in Retirement, Material Wellbeing, Health and Quality of Life. Using metrics as varied as life expectancy, income per capita, environmental quality, and government debt provide a multi-dimensional view of how well countries are positioned to support aging populations.

Dive deeper into our Global Retirement Index

Living on a prayer

About the index

2025 Global Retirement Index Top 10 Countries

Norway is a perennial index leader, ranking among the top three spots every year since 2012. Switzerland (#3) and Iceland (#4) have also been consistently near the top, underscoring the advantages smaller countries have in their ability to reach consensus on key issues that affect retirees.

Not all countries show consistent index performance. Over time, factors as varied as growing national debt, rising inflation, and low interest rates have had significant impact on year-over-year rankings. So have improvements in financial systems. This movement shows how fragile security can be in today’s complex environment. The key to attaining top rankings come down to consistency across all subindexes, rather than outperformance on any particular one.

Large countries face bigger retirement challenges

Retirement security can pose greater challenges for developed countries with large populations. Larger countries often carry significant public debt levels, which can affect public pensions. Income inequality can also be greater thanks to more diverse populations, while broader exposure to the global economy can sometimes result in labor market volatility. In simplest terms, large populations make the challenge of setting policies that support retirement security a more complex proposition.

Germany has the highest ranking of these large countries on the index (8th) — and the only one in the top 10 overall. Germany’s position is thanks in large part to high marks for Material Wellbeing as a result of lower unemployment and an improvement in income per capital. The United Kingdom (14th overall), Canada (20th), the United States (21st) and the Republic of Korea (22nd) round out the top five among large countries.

Individuals feel the pressure on retirement security

Regardless of where their home country may rank, individuals are finding that retirement security can be an elusive goal in 2025. Burdened by persistent inflation, presented with a more complicated economic environment, and concerned about the impact rising public levels will have on government benefits in the future, 46% of individual investors say it will take a miracle to achieve retirement security.

Results from the 2025 Natixis Survey of Global Investors show that Inflation has upped the stress level on retirement. Globally, 66% report that they are saving less because of higher everyday costs, while 69% say it has eroded the future value of their retirement savings. The impact on individuals’ psyche cannot be discounted, as 38% go so far as to say inflation is killing their retirement dreams.

Whether they are contemplating a retirement beginning in 2025 or 2050, individuals express tangible fears about their financial security in life after work. Inflation concerns cut deep but so does fear of failure, as 25% worry they’ll never save enough for retirement. Others worry that public debt and tax policy shifts could leave them in the lurch as one-third of individuals worldwide are afraid that their government benefits will be cut.

Where the responsibility for retirement security lies

When it comes down to it, retirement security is a responsibility that has to be shared by individuals and governments. Each will need to do their part to ensure that despite the many complex problems in front of them, retirement security is within reach. Employers are a critical linchpin in the retirement equation, too. Whether it’s a defined benefit pension or a defined contribution retirement savings, employers need to provide workers with access to retirement funding solutions.

With all three contributing, individuals can rely on more than divine intervention for retirement security. Instead, they’ll have a plan.

About the Global Retirement Index:
The Global Retirement Index (GRI) is a multi-dimensional index developed by Natixis Investment Managers and CoreData Research to examine the factors driving retirement security and to provide a comparison tool for best practices in retirement policy.

The index includes International Monetary Fund (IMF) advanced economies, members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China). The researchers calculated a mean score in each category and combined the category scores for a final overall ranking of the 44 nations studied.

About the survey:
Natixis Investment Managers, Global Survey of Individual Investors, conducted by CoreData Research in February and March 2025. Survey included 7,050 individual investors in 21 countries.

The views and opinions expressed may change based on market and other conditions. This material is provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as investment advice. There can be no assurance that developments will transpire as forecasted.

Actual results may vary.

All investing involves risk, including the risk of loss. No investment strategy or risk management technique can guarantee return or eliminate risk in all market environments. Investment risk exists with equity, fixed income, and alternative investments. There is no assurance that any investment will meet its performance objectives or that losses will be avoided.

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