Workers in most European countries will need to save considerably more on top of their mandatory pensions if they want a comfortable retirement, according to a new report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

The OECD's Pensions Outlook 2026, published on 4 November, calculates how much extra workers on average earnings must put aside during their working lives to retire on 70 percent of gross earnings. In 22 of the 30 European countries studied, mandatory pensions alone fall below that target.

The gap is widest in Lithuania, where workers face an additional contribution of 20.7 percent of earnings, followed by Ireland at 19.4 percent, Poland at 17.3 percent, Croatia at 15.7 percent and Germany at 11.1 percent. In the United Kingdom the gap is 9.1 percent, and in France it is 6.2 percent. In eight countries, including Austria, Denmark, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain, mandatory pensions are expected to meet the target for men on average salaries.

In monthly terms, a man on an average salary in Switzerland would need to put aside more than 1,000 euros a month, while in the UK the figure is around 494 euros a month. Across the 41 countries covered, the gap is 10 percent or more for men on average earnings in 17 of them.

The report also finds that pension fund assets have grown strongly, reaching 78 trillion US dollars at the end of 2025, equal to 106 percent of OECD gross domestic product, after growth of 11.3 percent during the year. OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann said governments should make greater use of asset-backed pensions alongside traditional pay-as-you-go schemes. The report recommends better financial advice, tax incentives and risk management to help people save enough, while stressing that the figures are forward-looking and assume pension rules stay unchanged.

[Source: pensionpolicyinternational.com](https://www.pensionpolicyinternational.com/governments-need-to-make-greater-use-of-asset-backed-pensions-to-support-retirement-incomes-oecd-says/) | [Source: OECD](https://www.oecd.org/en/about/news/press-releases/2026/11/governments-need-to-make-greater-use-of-asset-backed-pensions-to-support-retirement-incomes-oecd-says.html)