As of the end of 2025, global pension assets in the 22 largest pension markets had reached a record $68.3 trillion, rising 9.6% year-over-year—a total of $6 trillion—according to the latest global pension assets study from WTW’s Thinking Ahead Institute.
This growth was primarily driven by defined contribution assets, which the Thinking Ahead Institute noted have grown at a 9.4% rate, annualized, over the past 10 years. In comparison, defined benefit assets have grown at a 3.2% annualized rate during the same period.
According to the report, DC plans held 63% of global pension assets, compared with 41% two decades ago. This split is more pronounced in some markets, such as Australia and the U.S., where DC assets accounted for 90.1% and 71.9% of retirement assets, respectively.
Meanwhile, DC adoption was lowest in Japan (5.6%) and the Netherlands (7.3%), something which will soon change due to the European country mandating a shift to DC from DB.
Out of the 22 largest pension markets, which made up the study, the retirement assets in the seven largest—the U.S., Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Japan and the U.K.—accounted for 91% of the assets in the study, WTW noted.
Top 7 Pension Markets by Asset Size
| Market | Total Estimated Assets 2025 (USD $B) |
| US1 | 44,919 |
| Canada1 | 3,777 |
| Japan2 | 3,390 |
| UK1 | 3,239 |
| Australia1 | 2,972 |
| Netherlands1 | 1,942 |
| Switzerland3 | 1,736 |
1 Include IRAs.
2 Does not include the unfunded benefit obligation of corporate pension plans (account receivables).
3 Does not consider insurance companies assets.
Source: Thinking Ahead Institute
The U.S. alone accounted for 66% of all pension assets in the P22.
On average, retirement assets in the seven largest pension markets had a 48% allocation to equities, 31% to bonds, 19% to other asset classes and 3% to cash. The study noted that American and Australian pensions had higher allocations to equities, while Japanese, Dutch and British pensions had higher allocations to bonds.
Canadian assets grew the fastest in 2025, at 12%, bumping the country to the second largest pension market last year, up from third in 2022 and fourth in 2020. U.K. pension assets grew the slowest, at only 3%.
The WTW report stated that “a key driver of this trend is that the U.K. pension market is going through a structural shift, with DB schemes maturing, paying out benefits, and de-risking, while DC continues to expand.”
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Tags: Thinking Ahead Institute, WTW