The National Pension System (NPS) has witnessed a robust growth, with its assets under management (AUM) increasing by 28% to Rs 12.28 lakh crore as of June 8, according to the latest data from the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA). This impressive growth has been significantly driven by the private sector’s strong performance.
As of June 8, the number of private sector subscribers, encompassing both the Corporate and All-Citizen-Model categories, rose by 18.53% year over year to 56.47 lakh. Within this segment, the Corporate category alone accounted for 20.13 lakh subscribers, with approximately 15,900 companies participating in the NPS. In comparison, the government sector boasts 93 lakh subscribers in the NPS.
The private sector has been a major contributor to the sharp rise in NPS assets in recent years, demonstrating a year-on-year growth of 39.02%, reaching Rs 2.42 lakh crore by June 8. However, this figure remains lower than the government sector’s NPS assets under management, which stand at Rs 9.43 lakh crore, marking a 25% increase year over year.
The growing importance of the private sector in the NPS is underscored by its increasing AUM share, which rose from 13.1% in March 2019 to 20% in March 2024. Similarly, the proportion of private subscribers in the NPS climbed from 21.6% in March 2019 to 37.5% in March 2024.
FY24 show
In the fiscal year 2023-24, a total of 9.47 lakh new subscribers, from both government and private sectors, joined the NPS. Out of these, 8.10 lakh were from the ‘all citizen model’ and 1.37 lakh were corporate employees. Additionally, the number of new NPS and Atal Pension Yojana (APY) subscriber registrations reached 1,47,901 by June 9 this fiscal year, as per PFRDA data.
In terms of global comparisons, India’s pension assets as a percentage of GDP are approximately 16.5%. This is significantly lower compared to developed countries like the UK, US, and Australia, where the ratio exceeds 100%. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries had a ratio of 81% in 2022, while some Scandinavian countries like Denmark, the Netherlands, and Iceland boasted ratios over 200% in 2021.
