Though India moved up to 88th position in 2015 from 104 in 2014 in the Global Retirement Index (GRI) survey conducted by US based asset manager Natixis, it still ranks the worst among Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) nations.
Switzerland ranks first with a score of 82% followed by Norway (81%) and Australia (77%) in the GRI index.
Emerging economies
The BRIC nations have young populations relative to their developed country counterparts, this is likely to change rapidly with higher life expectancy rates, which will result in rapidly aging populations. The recent data captures the trend that old-age dependency ratios for BRIC countries have drastically increased.
As an important indicator of the retirement security system, insured ratio of health expenditure shows that BRIC countries have a health expenditure coverage ratio below Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) average. “Although there has been a rapid growth in the past ten years for China and India, it is still a major challenge for BRIC countries to fit in future retirees and provide them an efficient and qualified healthcare system, especially under the countries’ population aging conditions,” shows the survey.
India has performed well in the sub-indices of finances in retirement (60%), material well-being index (63%), quality of life index (51%) and deteriorated in the health index (38%).
“The health sub-index still lags behind most countries and there is a low level of health expenditure. The number of physicians per capita, albeit improved from last year, stands at only 0.7 per 1,000 people. Pollution and environmental indicators are low in India, and similar to China, severely affect populations of the larger cities where there are extremely high levels of water and air pollution,” finds the report.
The survey shows that even though India is considered as one of the emerging economic powers, it still has major challenges like slowing growth, lack of investment in infrastructure and high levels of poverty.
The Global Retirement Index is a comparison tool that provides a global benchmark to evaluate and compare the suitability of countries in meeting the needs and expectations of retirees worldwide. It is measured on four parameters:
- Material wellbeing: examines retirees’ ability to live comfortably in retirement
- Health: evaluates retiree access to quality health services
- Finances in retirement: considers access to quality financial services and the ability to preserve savings
- Quality of life: focuses on whether a country can provide a clean, safe environment in which to live
