MBABANE – As at Q3 of 2025, the stock of retirement funds accumulated savings of E58 billion was equivalent to about 65 per cent of 2024 annual economic production.
This indicates that the stock of retirement savings is large, relative to annual economic output.
Retirement funds in Eswatini have amassed assets worth E58 billion in the third quarter of 2025.
This is an amount equivalent to approximately 65 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), showing the growing dominance of pension savings in the national economy.
With Eswatini’s GDP for 2024 stands at E89.004 billion, the E58 billion recorded in pension assets confirms that retirement funds now represent well over 60 per cent of annual economic output.
At roughly 65 per cent of GDP, pension assets have become one of the most significant pools of capital in the domestic economy.
This is due to the fact that the country’s employment arrangements are largely on either a fixed contract arrangement or a permanent contract arrangement.
These avenues are largely pensionable one way or the other.
Furthermore, there is the provident fund which is mandatory for all employees or those that do not have a recognised retirement fund. As a result, it is expected that retirement funds will make up a bulk of the assets of the non-banking financial institutions.
The latest Non-Bank Financial Institutions (NBFI) snapshot also shows consistent quarterly growth. Retirement fund assets stood at E52.86 billion in the first quarter of 2025 before rising to E55.35 billion in the second quarter.
The increase to E58 billion in the third quarter represents a quarterly growth of approximately 4.8 per cent from Q2 and nearly 9.7 per cent growth since the beginning of the year.
This steady upward trajectory reflects a combination of ongoing member contributions, reinvested income and market performance. It also demonstrates the resilience of long-term savings mobilisation at a time when the broader economy is expanding at a moderate pace.
Insurance sector assets at E7.8bn
MBABANE – Insurance companies reported E7.8 billion in assets during the quarter under review.
The sector plays a critical role in risk mitigation across households and businesses, offering life, medical, property and other insurance products.
In the previous quarter, the combined local assets of short-term and long-term insurers totalled E2.02 billion, marking a 6.38 per cent decline from the previous quarter’s E2.35 billion.
Short-term insurers allocated 30.69 per cent of their assets to local investment managers, primarily in money market instruments, reflecting their short-term liability structure.
Meanwhile, short-term insurers’ exposure to local banks increased slightly by 0.94 percentage points, rising from 40.55 per cent in the previous quarter to 41.50 per cent in Q2 2025.
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