The UKs pension system is ranked ninth best in the world, according to a global index published by retirement consultants Mercer.
The first and second places were taken by Denmark and Australia. Other highly ranked nations included Finland (4), Switzerland (5), Canada (7) and Chile (8).
The rankings combine publicly funded and private components of 25 countries' pensions systems and are underpinned by 50 indicators across three sub-indices of adequacy, sustainability and integrity.
David Knox, author of the research, noted that, in many countries, accountability for ensuring financial security in retirement was shifting from being the responsibility of the state and employers to individuals.
'This trend will continue as life expectancy continues to increase and many governments reduce per capita expenditure on their aged population.
'Governments, regulators and financial industries have to ensure good governance frameworks and practices that promote regular, easy-to-understand communication, clear benefit projections, and access to comparative information in a cost-efficient manner.'
The UK has continually improved its ranking, moving from a 'C' grade in 2009 to 'B' grade in 2011, the index showed.
For the 2014 index, the UK's pension system achieved a 'B' grade and a score of 67.6 out of a possible 100, up from 65.4 last year.
A 'B' grade system has a sound structure, with many good features, but has some areas for improvement.
Deborah Cooper, partner at Mercer, said: 'The UK has previously struggled with issues around sustainability, mainly due to the numbers of people covered by our pensions system.
'The introduction of auto-enrolment, which is currently being phased in, has helped improve the sustainability rating in this year's index. This will continue to improve over the next five years as the level of contributions increases and auto-enrolment completes.'
The pension systems of Germany and the US were ranked 11 (C+) and 13 (C) respectively.
'C+' and 'C' systems have some good features, but also have major risks and shortcomings that need to be addressed.
The emerging economies of Brazil, India, China and South Africa saw their pension systems rank 18 (C), 25 (D), 21 (D) and 16 (C), respectively. Russia didn't place.
A 'D' grade system has some desirable features, but also has major weaknesses and omissions that need to be addressed.