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South Africa has one of the biggest pools of pension savings in the world.

This is according to an analysis conducted by The Common Sense.

South Africa’s total retirement savings are about R5.6 trillion, meaning that South Africa has the 16th-biggest domestic savings pool in the world (this doesn’t include ordinary savings, only money that is being saved for the purpose of retirement).

This is despite South Africa being the 40th-biggest economy in the world.

South Africa’s total pension savings are equivalent to about 83% of the country’s GDP, one of the highest in the developing world.

Even compared to many developed countries, South Africa’s pension savings are high as a proportion of GDP.

According to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), South Africa’s pension savings as a ratio of GDP (83.2%) is the 8th-highest of the 45 countries it tracks on various economic metrics.

The OECD is an organisation of mainly advanced economies that produces comparative research and policy analysis on economic and social issues. While South Africa is not a member, it is one of the seven major non-OECD emerging economies that the organisation tracks on various metrics, including the value of pension funds as a proportion of GDP.

South Africa’s pension savings figure is one of the country’s major economic strengths.

The large pool of pension savings strengthens the economy by giving the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and bond market a stable base of domestic investors. This reduces reliance on volatile foreign capital, helps the government borrow more reliably, and provides multi-year funding for infrastructure, private equity, and other investments that require long-term capital. In addition, because retirement savings are regulated and generally locked in for decades, they are also less vulnerable to sudden capital flight, giving the country a valuable financial buffer against currency weakness, market stress, or increased emigration.

However, the sheer size of South Africa’s pension savings makes them an obvious target for the government, seeking money for state projects, failing public entities, or industrial policy.

The African National Congress (ANC) has repeatedly raised the idea of prescribed assets, which would require pension funds to invest a set share of their members’ savings in government-approved assets, regardless of whether fund managers believe those investments offer the best balance of risk and return. In both its 2019 and 2024 election manifestos, the possibility of prescribed assets was raised by the party.

Prescribed assets had been a policy of the apartheid government – at its height in the late 1970s pension funds had to invest more than half of their capital in state or parastatal-issued bonds.

Supporters of the policy of prescribed assets present this as a way to finance infrastructure and development, but the danger is that political priorities could override the duty to protect pensioners, directing private savings towards weak state institutions and reducing long-term returns. Regulation 28, which restricts how much South African pension funds can invest outside of this country, already shapes how retirement funds may allocate capital, so the legal and administrative machinery for greater state direction already exists.

South Africa's pension savings are more than just retirement money. They are one of the country's most important strategic economic assets, providing a deep pool of long-term capital that supports investment, financial stability, and economic resilience. Protecting those savings from political interference while ensuring they continue to generate strong returns for millions of South Africans will be critical to preserving both retirement security and the country's long-term economic health.