Rich Countries Are $78 Trillion Short of Pension: Citibank

Inforgraphic (Supplied by Citibank)

Twenty of the world’s rich countries in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) will suffer a total 78 trillion USD of pension shortfall, according to a new report released by Citibank on Wednesday.

"Social security systems, national pension plans, private sector pensions, and individual retirement accounts are unfunded or underfunded across the globe," pensions and insurance analysts at the bank said in the report.

The said 20 countries in OECD include the U.K., France and Germany, plus several others in western and central Europe, the U.S., Japan, Canada, and Australia.

The size of the gap is amazing, considering that it nearly doubled the current level of outstanding government debt for those same nations of around 44 trillion USD, and that United States’ GDP was estimated to be mere 17.9 trillion USD in 2014.

Citibank used an iceberg infographic to show the scale of the impending problem that is lurking beneath the surface. “The numbers are staggering,” said the report.