(As of June 2013)

Japan	U.S.A.	U.K.	Germany	France	Sweden
Plan system	Two-tiersEmployees' pension insuranceNational pensionAll residents	One-tierOld-Age, Survivors, and Disability InsuranceNon-working self-employed workers	Two-tiersState second pensionBasic state pensionNon-working, self-employed workers	One-tier(Not applicable)Self-employed workersSelf-employed workers	One-tier(Not applicable)General pension insuranceMiners' pension insuranceNon-working, self-employed workers	One-tierGuaranteepensionIncome-based old age pensionNon-working, etc. self-employed workers
Subject person for compulsory participation	All residents	Employees and self-employed workers	Employees and self-employed workers	Employees of the private sector and self-employed workers engaged in specified occupation (lawyers, medical doctors, etc.)	Employees and self-employed workers	Employees and self-employed workers
Premium rate (end of 2012)	[General employees]Employees' Pension: 16.766%(from Sept. 2012: Equally shared by an employee and an employer)* Category-1 insured persons: fixed amount contributions (from April 2012: ¥14,980 per month)	10.4%Employee: 4.2%Employer: 6.2%* In 2011 and 2012, the premium rate of employees was reduced by 2%, or from 6.2% to 4.2%, as a temporary special measure.	[General employees]25.8%Employee: 12.0%Employer: 13.8%* These contributions are also used as financial resources of industrial injury insurance and unemployment insurance	[General employees]19.6%(Equally shared by an employee and an employer)	[General employees]16.85%Employee: 6.85%Employer: 10.0%	17.21%Employee: 7.0%Employer: 10.21%* In addition, a premium of 1.17% for survivors' pension is imposed on employer (This is different from the old-age pension)
Pensionable age (end of 2012)	National pension (basic pension):Age 65Employees' pension:Age 60* The age will be raised to 65 by 2025 for males and by 2030 for females.	Age 66* The age will be raised to 67 by 2027	Males: Age 65Females:Age 61 and 3 months* The age will be raised to 65 for females by 2018, and then to 66 for both males and females by 2020.* The age will be further raised from 66 to 68 for both males and females from 2034 to 2046.	Age 65 and 1 month* The age will be raised to 67 by 2029	Age 60 and 9 months* The age will be raised to 62 by 2017	Selection by the person after his/her 61st birthday(However, pensionable age for the guarantee pension is 65)
Period of coverage required for entitlement to an old-age benefit	25 years (scheduled to be reduced from 25 years to 10 years in October 2015)	40 quarters of plan participation (equivalent to 10 years)	None	5 years	None	None(As to the guarantee pension, it is required to reside in Sweden for more than 3 years for entitlement to that pension, and 40-year residence in Sweden is required for receiving the full amount)
National subsidies	1/2 for the benefit cost of the basic pension	The state subsidy is normally not provided but was in 2011 and 2012 to cover the shortage that resulted from the 2% reduction in the premium rate as a temporary special measure.	None, in principle	27.7% of benefit cost (2011)	Approx. 30.0% (2011) by general tax and contributions by general community (CSG), etc.	For the guarantee pension component

Source: • Social Security Programs Throughout the World: Europe, 2012 / The Americas, 2011

• Mutual Information System on Social Protection in the Member States of the European Union

• Documents published by the respective countries, and others

• Social security in advanced countries (1) U.K., (4) Germany, (5) Sweden, (6) France, (7) U.S.A. (University of Tokyo Press)