This is not a pension funding ratio. “Other accounts payable” is a balance-sheet bucket for obligations such as unpaid expenses, trade credit and transactions awaiting settlement, rather than members’ pension entitlements or conventional loans and securities. The indicator measures that bucket as a share of all financial liabilities.
A larger share could reflect an increase in those payables, a decline in total liabilities or both; the published percentage does not distinguish among those possibilities.
Ireland’s 5.3% was well above the 1.56% average and 0.34% median for the countries compared. That makes the composition of Irish funds’ liabilities unusual, but not necessarily weak.
The history also warrants caution. The annual OECD series reports 0% from 2007 through 2018, followed by 1.53% in 2019 and readings between 1.82% and 2.96% from 2020 through 2024. The latest figure is therefore a clear break from the recent range, but the category’s abrupt appearance means coverage or classification could matter alongside genuine balance-sheet changes; this table alone cannot tell.
For pension savers and regulators, the practical question is what obligations now sit in this bucket, when they fall due and whether funds have liquid assets to meet them. Until those underlying amounts are available, the record is a reason to inspect liquidity and reporting—not evidence that pension benefits are in danger.