The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)’s Composite Leading Indicators (CLI) in April 2020 went into negative territory as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. The CLI was on the path to recovery after a low point in September 2019 when the trajectory abruptly changed for the worse. In March 2020, the CLI level is at 98.77 vs the Feb 2020 level of 99.57, up from Jan

OECD’s new report, Pension Markets in Focus 2019, shows that despite a decline of pension assets in the OECD area and internationally in 2017/18, over the last decade, however, pension assets have increased in nominal terms in almost all reporting countries. This can be attributed to an increase in the proportion of working-age coverage, which was strong in countries such as Israel, Latvia, Bulgaria, Colombia, North Macedonia, and New

The OECD in December 2019 published updated versions of the 2019 series of its E.U. Country Health Profiles. The profiles provide a concise overview of health and health systems in the EU/European Economic area, emphasizing the particular characteristics and challenges in each country against a backdrop of cross-country comparisons. Each Country Health Profile provides a short summary of: Health status Risk factors The organization of the health system Its

The OECD in November 2019 released its annual Health at a Glance report for 2019. It provides the latest comparable data and trends on different aspects of the performance of health systems in OECD countries, while providing striking evidence of large variations across countries in indicators of health status and health risks, as well as in the inputs and outputs of health systems. Gains in longevity are stalling, with

Obesity-related diseases will claim more than 90 million lives in OECD countries in the next 30 years, with life expectancy reduced by nearly 3 years. Obesity and its related conditions also reduce GDP by 3.3% in OECD countries and exact a heavy toll on personal budgets, amounting to USD 360 per capita per year, according to a new OECD report published in November 2019. The OECD’s The Heavy Burden

Health expenditures will outpace GDP growth over the next 15 years in almost every OECD country, according to the OECD’s Health at a Glance 2019 report, published in November 2019. The OECD foresees that health spending per capita will grow at an average annual rate of 2.7% across OECD countries and will reach 10.2% of GDP by 2030, up from 8.8% in 2018. The report notes that the United

Published in November 2019, the OECD’s Pensions at a Glance 2019 report advises governments to urgently reform their pension systems to allow for the one-third of employees who are now in non-standard employment (self-employed, temporary or part-time employment) to have adequate retirement income. With women being three times more likely to be in part-time work, and the older workforce more likely to be self-employed, it has become a necessity: non-standard

The Future of Work addresses megatrends transforming the labor market The 2019 edition of the OECD Employment Outlook released in October 2019 takes a look at new evidence of changes in job stability, underemployment, and the share of well-paid jobs globally, and discusses how policy creates implications with respect to how technology, globalization, population ageing, and other megatrends are transforming the labor market in OECD countries. The report discusses

Institutional, legal and regulatory frameworks for corporate governance are the topics for the 2019 Corporate Governance Factbook, released in June 2019 by the OECD. The Factbook provides easily accessible and up-to-date information about the institutional, legal and regulatory frameworks for worldwide corporate governance, and complements the G20/OECD Principles of Corporate Governance. It is intended for use by governments, regulators, and the private sector to compare their own frameworks with

Out of 25 OECD countries for which data are available, the United States, Canada, Sweden, Norway, Ireland, England, and Wales experienced a rise in the average of opioid-related deaths (ORD) of more than 20% from 2011-2016. These findings are highlighted in the May 2019 OECD release: Addressing Problematic Opioid Use in OECD Countries, which calls for governments to take urgent action to combat the rise of ORD. In Canada,

The OECD in May 2019 published its Economic Outlook, containing analysis and projections for its 36 member countries and other major economies. A summary of the Economic Outlook and key data is accessible at http://www.oecd.org/economy/economic-outlook/. A special chapter in the Outlook analyses the ongoing digital transformation of the economy and complementary effects on productivity, which is one of the key themes of the 2019 OECD Forum and Ministerial Council

The OECD in April 2019 released its 2019 edition of the OECD Employment Outlook, which presents new evidence on changes in job stability, underemployment and the share of well-paid jobs available. The report also discusses the policy implications of these changes with respect to how technology, globalization, population ageing, and other mega-trends are transforming the labor market in OECD countries. The report also focuses on how labor market regulation

According to the OECD’s latest Employment Outlook 2019, released April 2019 as part of the OECD’s Future of Work initiative, governments need to overhaul their approach to employment and jobs to reduce further social and economic tensions. Without rapid action, many people, particularly the low skilled, will be left behind. Among the findings of the report: A rising number of young people with less than tertiary educations in many

A report published by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in April 2019, Under Pressure: The Squeezed Middle Class, suggests that governments need to do more to support middle-class households who are struggling to maintain their economic weight and lifestyles as their stagnating incomes fail to keep up with the rising costs of housing and education. This new analysis “delivers a bleak picture and a call for

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in March 2019 released the ninth edition of Society at a Glance, the biennial OECD overview of social indicators. The full report can be accessed here. This edition of the report addresses the growing demand for quantitative evidence on social well-being and its trends, and focuses on LGBT groups (lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, and transgender) and their lack of acceptance in

OECD in March 2019 released a new survey, “Risks that Matter”, which asked over 22,000 people aged 18 to 70 years old in 21 countries* about their worries and concerns, and their opinions on how well they think their governments help them tackle social and economic risks. The nationally-representative survey finds that many people in OECD countries believe public services and social benefits are difficult to reach and inadequate.

According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)’s and Interim Economic Outlook published in March 2019, global growth is slowing, showing signs of decoupling, with greater concern for Europe than the US, which is experiencing a slight slowdown. The slowdown has been faster than anticipated a few months ago; growth in Europe has been particularly disappointing, as trade growth both within the EU and with external partners

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in February 2019 released a new paper, titled “Trends in life expectancy in EU and other OECD countries” that reports on trends in life expectancy in the 28 EU countries and some other high-income OECD countries, and examines potential explanations for the slowdown in improvements in recent years. The slowing of improvements, which has been measured since 2011, has been greatest

Great podcast with OECD Head of Social Policy, Monika Queisser, on social protection for gig workers. A great overview of the issues at hand.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in January 2019 published a new report revealing that public social spending in OECD countries was just above 20% of GDP on average in 2018. Public spending on areas such as pensions, healthcare, and unemployment benefits was highest in France (31.2%), Belgium (28.9%) and Denmark (28.7%) and lowest in Mexico (7.5%), Chile (10.9%) and Korea (11.1%). Pensions spending is the biggest

Published in December 2018, the OECD Pensions Outlook 2018 report examines how national pension systems are adapting to improve retirement outcomes. This has direct implications for the design and implementation of occupational pension plans. The report focuses on funded pensions and discusses how different pension tools can be combined to meet certain goals. It also considers how countries can improve financial, i.e. tax, incentives. This edition draws lessons from

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in November 2018 released the 2018 edition of Health at a Glance: Europe. This report is led by the European Commission and designed to assist member states in improving the health of their citizens and the performance of their health systems. The report cites “two overarching trends [that] warrant special mention”: [T]he steady increase in life expectancy has slowed considerably in

Pension assets continued to rise in 2017, to the tune of USD 43.4 trillion in the OECD area for the first time, with almost all countries showing positive investment results according to the new Pension Markets in Focus 2018 report published in October 2018 by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). This annual report, which now covers 87 countries, gives an overview of private pension systems worldwide

OECD, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, in November 2018 issued a new report, The Institutional Structure of Insurance Regulation and Supervision, which presents the results of a stocktaking of the institutional structure of insurance regulation and supervision practices in 50 OECD and non-OECD countries. The report is based on responses to a questionnaire circulated to OECD and non-OECD countries, with cooperation from the International Association of Insurance

Economic growth is picking up and unemployment has reached record lows in some OECD countries but wages continue to stagnate. Unless countries can break this cycle, public belief in the recovery will be undermined and labor market inequality will widen, according to a new report, published in July 2018 by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The OECD Employment Outlook 2018 states that the employment rate for

The OECD in July 2018 released its Annual Survey of Investment Regulations of Pension Funds 2018, which describes the main quantitative investment regulations that pension funds are subject to in OECD and a selection of IOPS member countries. It covers all types of pension plans, and concerns all forms of quantitative portfolio restrictions applied to pension funds at different legal levels. The 356-page survey’s findings conclude, in part, that:

Preliminary data, released in July 2018 by the OECD, shows an increase in life and/or non-life gross premiums of domestic insurance companies for 2017, with 40 out of 43 countries reporting. Gross premiums of domestic insurance companies rose in real terms in 15 countries in both the life and non-life sectors, and in 10 other countries in the life sector only, while another 15 reported rises in the non-life