Nepal's Social Security Fund passes 3m contributors, most of them working abroad
Mandatory enrolment for migrant workers has turned a scheme built for formal employees into a Rs 116bn fund. Most payouts so far have gone on old-age claims.
Nepal's contribution-based Social Security Fund (SSF) now has more than 3m contributors and has collected more than Rs 116bn (about $750m), Kantipur reported in July, citing the fund. In July 2023 it had 639,174 members, The Rising Nepal reported then.
The growth has a single cause. Since 22 March 2023, Nepalis leaving to work abroad have had to register with the fund as part of obtaining their labour permits, The Rising Nepal reported at the time. In January this year the fund counted 2.086m contributors from foreign employment out of 2.757m in total, according to The Rising Nepal. That is about three in four. Formal-sector employees numbered 669,620, from 22,807 employers. Only 757 self-employed people and 813 informal-sector workers had joined.
How fast the money is building
The pace of collection has quickened. The fund had collected Rs 95.44bn from 2.64m contributors by November 2025, The Himalayan Times reported. By January it had passed Rs 100bn: Rs 91.29bn in contributions and Rs 8.82bn in investment returns, according to The Rising Nepal. By the end of the fiscal year in mid-July the total exceeded Rs 116bn, roughly Rs 16bn more in six months.
In the formal sector, the scheme is funded by contributions of 11% of salary from workers and 20% from employers, The Rising Nepal reported. For migrant workers, eligibility builds up over time: they must contribute for at least three months before claiming accident or health benefits, and for nine months before their families can claim dependants' protection if they die, Republica reported.
Where the money goes
Most of what the fund has paid out so far is in old-age claims. By January it had paid Rs 18.43bn against 972,846 claims across its four schemes, of which Rs 15.16bn went on old-age protection, The Rising Nepal reported. Medical and maternity claims, and accident and disability claims, were much smaller. By July the fund had paid Rs 304.6m in accident and disability claims, according to Kantipur.
The balance between money coming in and money going out is the fund's main long-term question. Its executive director, Kabiraj Adhikari, acknowledged the issue: "We are aware of this risk," he told The Rising Nepal. The fund has also shortened the application periods for special loans to contributors, and officials said that a larger fund and a slower economy mean lower expected returns than in previous years.
That last point links the SSF to the rest of the financial system. Returns across Nepal's savings market have fallen as banks struggle to find borrowers, and consumer price inflation rose to 5.96% in the year to mid-August, according to central bank figures reported by ShareSansar. A fund that must eventually pay pensions to millions of people needs returns that keep pace with prices.
What to watch
Migrant departures drive enrolment, so the number of labour permits issued each month is the best guide to the fund's growth. The other things to watch are its investment policy, as returns on deposits fall, and whether more self-employed and informal workers, still fewer than 2,000 in total, are brought in. The fund's annual figures for 2025/26 will show how much it earned on its reserves.
How this story was made: researched and written by The Standard’s desk with AI assistance, from the published reporting and official data credited below, and checked against those sources. Our standards.
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