ADB Urges Tajikistan to Consider Higher Retirement Ages as Pension Coverage Lags

Two options for changing when people retire

The Asian Development Bank has recommended that Tajikistan consider gradually raising the retirement age for women from 58 to 63, or introducing a unified retirement age of 65 for both men and women. The proposals come as pension insurance covers only about a third of the working age population and contribution receipts fall far below the amount estimated in the bank's calculations.

The recommendations appear in the ADB report Economic Transformation for Sustainable and Inclusive Growth in Tajikistan, published in October 2026. They form part of a wider package covering pension payments, contribution requirements, digital records and financing for people who do not qualify for an insurance pension.

Tajikistan's government has not announced a decision to raise the retirement age. The current general rules remain 58 for women and 63 for men, as listed by the Agency for Social Insurance and Pensions. No implementation date or timetable for the proposed age changes has been announced.

The first option would add five years to women's retirement age while leaving men's unchanged. The second would add seven years for women and two years for men. Both would remove the current five year difference between the sexes.

The ADB presents these as measures for the long term, requiring further assessment of employment, public finances, demographic trends and social conditions. For workers, the central issue is how many additional years they would need to work and contribute. For pensioners, the wider reform discussion concerns whether payments can cover everyday needs.

Tajikistan had 838,900 pensioners on April 1, 2026. More than 1.21 billion somoni went toward pensions and benefits during the first quarter of that year, showing the scale of the payments that the system must finance.

Longer lives are changing the calculation

Life expectancy in Tajikistan rose from 68.4 years in 2010 to 76.6 years in 2024, according to figures cited by the ADB. That is an increase of 8.2 years over 14 years.

Tajikistan's National Development Strategy sets a target of 80 years by 2030, including 78 years for men and 82 years for women. Reaching the national target would require another increase of 3.4 years from the 2024 level.

The ADB's reasoning connects longer lives with the balance between years spent paying into the pension system and years receiving payments. Women generally retire earlier than men, have shorter contribution histories and live longer on average. The bank says reform could help strengthen pension finances and reduce gender differences in pension provision.

Life expectancy describes the average length of life across a population. Planning pension payments also requires looking at how long people live after reaching retirement age, alongside the number of workers contributing and the number of people receiving benefits. The bank calls for a detailed demographic assessment before any age change.

Longer contribution requirements would matter too

The ADB also recommends considering an increase in the minimum contribution period from 25 to 30 years for men and from 20 to 30 years for women. This would add five required contribution years for men and 10 for women.

A retirement age and a contribution requirement answer different questions. The first determines when someone reaches the general age for retirement. The second concerns how much of that person's working life must be recorded as contributing to the insurance system.

Workers would therefore need to consider both proposed changes together. Reaching the retirement age and having enough recorded contributions are separate parts of qualifying for an insurance pension. This matters particularly for people whose work is informal or whose payments are irregular.

The bank says assessments should cover vulnerable groups and the labor market, as well as pension finances. In practical terms, that means examining whether people can remain in employment for longer and how the proposed contribution requirements would affect those with gaps in their records.

Pensions remain a small share of average wages

Tajikistan's average old age pension was 475.8 somoni a month in 2024, compared with an average monthly wage of 2,148.9 somoni. The pension was equivalent to 22.1% of the average wage, up from 18.4% in 2023.

The increase was 3.7 percentage points. Put simply, the average pension in 2024 was about 22 somoni for every 100 somoni of average wages. This comparison helps show the income gap between retirement and employment, although individual workers receive different wages and pensions.

The average social old age pension was lower, at 334.9 somoni in 2024. Social pensions support people who do not meet the requirements for an insurance pension, making their payment level especially relevant to those with limited contribution histories.

The ADB recommends improving the way pensions are adjusted for inflation and living costs. Inflation means prices rise, so the same amount of money buys less. Adjusting a pension can help recipients keep paying for goods and services as those costs change.

The bank also calls for indicators to judge whether pensions are adequate. Such measures would give policymakers a clearer way to assess payments against living needs, alongside the separate task of keeping the pension system financed.

Pensions rose by at least 15% from September 1, 2026. The Agency for Social Insurance and Pensions subsequently reported average monthly labor pensions of 741.31 somoni, insurance pensions of 591.06 somoni and social pensions of 412.60 somoni. These category figures provide the more recent picture of payments, while the 2024 pension and wage figures show their relationship in that year.

The contribution gap is larger than the age debate

About 2.1 million people were registered in Tajikistan's pension insurance system in 2024, equivalent to roughly a third of the working age population. Some registered people do not actually pay contributions regularly.

Social tax receipts totaled 2.96 billion somoni in 2025. The ADB compared that amount with an estimated 15.3 billion somoni that could have been collected if registered insured people had met the assumptions used in its calculation. Actual receipts were 19.3% of that estimate.

The difference between the two figures is 12.34 billion somoni. Understanding the comparison requires looking at the assumptions about registered contributors, their work and their payments. The ADB identifies informal employment, irregular contributions and inaccurate registration data as factors behind the gap.

Informal employment is work that takes place outside some or all of the usual registration and contribution arrangements. Someone can earn an income without that work producing a complete pension contribution record. An inaccurate register can also leave authorities with a poor picture of who is working and paying.

The ADB recommends improving registration, sharing information between government agencies and extending pension insurance to people who work for themselves and workers in the informal sector.

These proposals address a different part of pension financing from raising the retirement age. A later retirement age could extend the period during which people contribute. Wider coverage and more reliable payment records would bring more of the existing workforce into the system and make contributions easier to track.

Digital records would connect workers with their pensions

Tajikistan's pension system is financed mainly through social tax paid by employers, employees and individual entrepreneurs. Individual pension accounts record contributions made during a person's working life.

Citizens cannot always obtain complete information about those payments or the pension they can expect. That creates a practical problem for anyone trying to understand whether their employment history has been recorded correctly and how it will affect retirement income.

The ADB recommends expanding digital records, improving exchanges of information between agencies and giving people access to contribution and expected benefit information. A clearer record would allow workers to see which payments appear in their account and identify missing entries.

On October 2, 2026, the Asian Development Bank announced approval of a grant of $20.5 million to modernize the pension system. Its stated purposes include expanding coverage, digitizing pension and social benefit payments, and reaching workers who are currently outside the system.

The financing comprises a $19.5 million grant from the Asian Development Fund and a $1 million grant from the High-Level Technology Fund, financed by the Government of Japan through ADB. The Asian Development Fund grant includes $12.32 million from ADB's support package for countries affected by the economic and financial effects of the conflict in the Middle East.

ADB President Masato Kanda said the project would strengthen the protections people rely on and extend them to workers who remain outside the system as the conflict in the Middle East drives up costs and puts added pressure on families.

The project will modernize the Agency of Social Insurance and Pension through secure data centers, a single digital platform for client services and administration, stronger cybersecurity, digitized records and better data sharing with other government agencies. It will also upgrade agency offices in Dushanbe and Bokhtar and train staff to use the new systems. The platform is expected to provide faster and more secure services to at least 320,000 existing contributors and 250,000 pensioners.

The project will also help expand pension coverage for informal and self-employed workers, labor migrants and their families. It will help women with limited access to benefits enroll in the system and connect them with services including maternal health care and protection from violence, while strengthening their financial security and ability to cope with natural hazards.

The grant connects the broader reform discussion with administrative work already receiving financial support. Better records and payment systems would help both citizens checking their own accounts and agencies responsible for collecting contributions and paying benefits.

Changing who pays for social pensions

Tajikistan has insurance pensions, which depend on contributions during a person's working life, and social pensions for those who do not meet insurance pension requirements. The ADB proposes gradually transferring the financing of social pensions to the state budget under a plan covering several years.

The change would shift that spending away from the social insurance system and into general government financing. Social pensions would still need public funding, but the responsibility for meeting their cost would move to a different part of public finances.

For the insurance system, the proposed transfer would reduce the pressure associated with financing payments for people who have not met its contribution requirements. A gradual plan would allow the budget to take on those costs over time.

The ADB also recommends developing voluntary pension savings through rules for pension funds outside the state system. The proposed framework would cover licensing, investment rules and government supervision.

Licensing determines which organizations may operate a fund. Investment rules govern how saved money can be used, while supervision gives public authorities a role in checking compliance. The proposal would create a framework for people who choose to save additional money for retirement.

The dates and decisions that matter

The pension debate brings together figures from several years, a payment increase already introduced and recommendations intended for the long term. The main dates show how those developments fit together:

• 2010: Life expectancy stood at 68.4 years.
• 2024: Life expectancy reached 76.6 years, around 2.1 million people were registered for pension insurance, and the average old age pension was 475.8 somoni.
• 2025: Social tax receipts totaled 2.96 billion somoni, compared with the ADB's estimated potential of 15.3 billion somoni under its calculation assumptions.
• April 1, 2026: Tajikistan had 838,900 pensioners.
• September 1, 2026: Pensions increased by at least 15%.
• October 2026: The ADB published its reform recommendations. On October 2, it approved a $20.5 million pension modernization grant.
• 2030: Tajikistan's national strategy targets life expectancy of 80 years.

The ADB calls for balancing financial sustainability with social fairness. Its proposed assessments would need to examine the effects of longer working lives and contribution requirements alongside the ability of pensions to support recipients.

For workers, the immediate practical concerns remain their recorded contributions and eligibility under current rules. For pensioners, payment levels and adjustments for living costs remain central. The bank's package addresses both groups through a combination of possible eligibility changes, wider coverage, better records and revised financing.

Key Points

• The ADB recommends considering gradually raising women's retirement age from 58 to 63, or introducing a unified retirement age of 65 for both men and women.
• Current general retirement ages remain 58 for women and 63 for men. The government has announced no decision to change them.
• The bank also proposes considering 30 years of contributions for both sexes, up from 25 for men and 20 for women.
• The average old age pension equaled 22.1% of the average wage in 2024. Pensions increased by at least 15% in September 2026.
• About a third of the working age population is covered by pension insurance. Social tax receipts of 2.96 billion somoni in 2025 represented 19.3% of the ADB's estimated contribution potential of 15.3 billion somoni.
• A $20.5 million ADB grant approved on October 2, 2026, comprises $19.5 million from the Asian Development Fund and $1 million from the Japan-financed High-Level Technology Fund. It will support broader coverage and digital modernization, with the platform expected to serve at least 320,000 existing contributors and 250,000 pensioners. Other recommendations include moving social pension financing to the state budget and regulating voluntary pension funds.