Nigeria’s pension system recorded a strong increase in new registrations during the first quarter of 2026, as 143,248 people opened Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs) under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS).
The figure represents a 24.7 per cent increase compared with the 114,864 new accounts recorded in the fourth quarter of 2025.
According to the National Pension Commission (PenCom), the new registrations pushed the total number of registered RSAs to 11.183 million by the end of March 2026, up from 11.040 million at the end of December 2025.
PenCom linked the growth partly to improvements in digital registration and continued efforts to educate Nigerians about the importance of pension savings.
The increase, however, highlights both progress and a major challenge facing Nigeria’s pension industry. Despite having more than 11 million registered pension accounts, coverage remains low compared with the country’s workforce.
PenCom estimates Nigeria’s labour force at about 92 million people. This means registered pension contributors represent only around 12.1 per cent of the estimated workforce.
A large part of the gap comes from informal-sector workers, many of whom do not currently participate in the formal Contributory Pension Scheme.
The first-quarter figures also showed that competition among Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) is becoming more balanced. The five PFAs with the highest number of new registrations accounted for 54.41 per cent of total additions during the quarter, compared with 62.11 per cent in the previous quarter.
PenCom said the decline in concentration suggests that smaller and mid-sized pension operators are gaining ground as more Nigerians choose where to keep their retirement savings.
Younger Nigerians also dominated the new registrations. People below the age of 40 accounted for 75.31 per cent of all new RSA registrations during the quarter.
The commission sees the youthful membership as positive for the industry because younger contributors have more time to build their retirement savings and can potentially benefit from long-term investment strategies.
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s pension funds are also growing in value. Pension industry data showed that total pension assets reached a record N31.32 trillion in May 2026, representing a 1.23 per cent increase from the previous month and a 29.5 per cent rise compared with N24.18 trillion recorded in May 2025.
PenCom is also considering further reforms to strengthen the pension system. The commission disclosed that it is reviewing the Pension Reform Act 2014, including a proposal to raise the statutory contribution rates above the current 10 per cent paid by employers and 8 per cent paid by employees.
The commission is also developing an investment vehicle that could channel part of the country’s roughly $22 billion pension industry into critical infrastructure projects.
For Nigeria, the growing number of new accounts and rising pension assets point to a stronger retirement savings industry. However, bringing millions of informal workers into the pension system remains one of its biggest challenges.
Closing that gap could significantly expand pension coverage and give more Nigerians access to structured retirement savings.
