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London. Global banking giant HSBC warned of a “major East-West divide” over pensions on Thursday, as workers in Europe and the US struggle to match their Asian counterparts in adequately saving for retirement.

The London-based bank revealed the findings in a report entitled “The Future of Retirement” after surveying 17,000 people in 17 countries.

HSBC said the report highlighted “the emergence of a major East-West divide in retirement perceptions.”

It added: “The impact of the economic downturn has had a measured impact, particularly in the developed economies of North America and Europe where many people now expect to be worse off than their parents when they enter retirement.

“However, this view is by no means universal with households in many parts of the world having come through the global downturn with their aspirations for a prosperous retirement intact.

“This is particularly true in the economic powerhouses of the emerging markets such as India and China,” HSBC said.

The bank’s head of pensions and savings, David Wells, said that “unless Westerners take a leaf from the book of their Asian peers and start to be accountable for their own futures, sadly many will find their fears of financial hardship in later life come true.”

HSBC said half of those questioned in the survey did not have a financial plan while 41 percent felt under-prepared to retire.

The survey also showed that 32 percent of respondents expected to face financial hardship when they retired — but this figure fell to 17 percent in China.

The bank said Chinese households saved the equivalent of 38 percent of gross domestic product, while in India the figure is 35 percent. That compared with just 3.9 percent in the United States.

Agence France-Presse