Oman Pension System Gains Nine Points, Rises to Category B in Global Index

The Sultanate of Oman has improved its standing in the 2026 Global Marsh Pension Index, increasing its overall score by nine points and moving from Category C+ to Category B. The country now ranks 21st among 55 pension systems worldwide, according to the latest edition of the index.

All three sub-indices that form the basis of the evaluation—adequacy, sustainability, and integrity—registered gains. Oman was one of only five pension systems globally to see its classification category improve in the 2026 edition. Its adequacy score was particularly strong, reaching Category A.

Index Methodology and Oman’s Performance

Kawthar Khamis Al Bartamani, Director of Planning and Vision Follow-up at the Social Protection Fund, explained that the Global Marsh Pension Index is a specialised international tool for evaluating retirement income systems. It provides a comparative reading of system performance across a broad range of indicators and criteria. She noted that the 2026 edition covered 55 pension systems, representing approximately 66 percent of the global population. The index relies on more than 50 indicators distributed across three main criteria: adequacy (weighted at 40 percent), sustainability (35 percent), and integrity (25 percent).

Al Bartamani said Oman joined the index—formerly known as the Mercer Index—for the first time in 2025, with the aim of assessing its pension system against international standards and determining its position relative to other countries. The index’s significance, she noted, lies in its integrated approach: it does not merely measure benefit levels but also examines the adequacy of pension income, long-term sustainability, governance, regulation, and the protection of participants’ rights. The final result provides a multidimensional reading of the retirement system.

Oman’s overall score rose from 60.9 points in 2025 to 69.9 points in 2026, an increase of nine points. At the sub-criteria level, benefit adequacy achieved 80.3 points (Category A, 10th place globally). Sustainability recorded 54.7 points (Category C, 28th place globally). The integrity criterion scored 74.8 points (Category B, 37th place globally).

Adequacy as a Key Pillar

Al Bartamani stated that the improvement was integrated and not limited to a single criterion—it was reflected across all three dimensions that the index uses to measure pension system performance. She highlighted benefit adequacy as a fundamental pillar in any pension system evaluation, as it examines the system’s capacity to provide appropriate income and protection for beneficiaries. Oman’s result in this area is particularly significant because adequacy carries the highest weight in the overall index calculation. Reaching Category A offers an important signal about the performance of the Omani system according to the index’s international methodology.

She pointed out that adequacy should be viewed as part of a broader equation: strong pension systems are those that achieve an appropriate level of protection while simultaneously maintaining sustainability and efficient governance over the long term.

The report, she explained, indicates that the improvement in Oman’s index value was linked to an increase in the minimum pension as a proportion of wages, based on the data used in the measurement, reflecting a figure more representative of wages. The report characterises Oman’s pension income system as combining a basic pension—represented by the senior citizens’ benefit—with a national employment-based, income-linked system managed by the Social Protection Fund. It notes that the system provides a strong replacement rate across different income levels and enjoys sound regulation and governance. This reading places the improvement in its objective context and links it to the elements on which the international methodology relies.

Development Opportunities and Future Path

Al Bartamani added that the significance of the result lies in its comprehensiveness: the pension system cannot be evaluated by benefit magnitude alone, nor can sustainability be viewed in isolation from the level of protection beneficiaries receive. Reading results across adequacy, sustainability, and integrity provides a more balanced vision of the system’s performance and helps the Fund identify strengths while also pinpointing areas requiring further development.

From an institutional perspective, she noted, international indices are important measurement tools. They allow achievements to be examined according to independent external standards and help transform results into inputs useful for future planning and development.

Progress in classification represents a positive indicator, she said, but it does not signify the end of the development path. One of the most important advantages of this type of index is that it identifies areas that can be addressed to improve system performance in the future. The report pointed to several development opportunities for Oman’s system, including enhancing minimum support for lower-income senior citizens, expanding coverage, continuing to improve the information provided to participants, and addressing aspects related to benefit eligibility age in light of rising life expectancies.

Al Bartamani affirmed that these recommendations are read as opportunities for improvement within a continuous path of developing the system and achieving balance between protection level and long-term sustainability.

The value of international indices does not stop at ranking or classification, she added. It lies in the tool they provide for measurement, comparison, and identification of gaps and development opportunities. From a planning perspective, these results help read the impact of transformations in the social protection system and monitor its evolution through measurable indicators, while also benefiting from international practices and experiences.

Detailed analysis of the index results allows each pillar to be examined independently, she indicated. What has been achieved in adequacy requires preservation and enhancement, while the scores in sustainability and integrity offer areas for continuous work and development. The ultimate goal is not to improve Oman’s position in international indices for its own sake but to use these indices to support decisions that enhance system efficiency and its capacity to achieve social objectives sustainably.

Al Bartamani affirmed that indicators and figures acquire their true value when reflected in people’s lives and their sense of security about the future. Oman’s result provides an international reading of the pension system’s trajectory and confirms that developing the social protection system is a continuous process based on reinforcing achievements, capitalising on improvement opportunities, and responding to economic, social, and demographic transformations.

She explained that the Social Protection Fund is working to build a comprehensive and sustainable system capable of delivering protection to individuals across various stages of their lives, preserving the rights of future generations, and achieving balance between benefit adequacy and sustainability. The objective is not to reach a particular international classification but rather for the development measured by these indices to become a tangible impact in people’s lives—a dignified life, greater confidence in the social protection system, and a sustainable capacity to fulfil its obligations toward current and future generations.