According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) the value of assets held by private sector pension schemes around the world fell by an average 20 per cent by the end of last year compared with the end of 2007.

The Paris-based organisation has revealed that some countries had fared worse: in Ireland the value of assets backing private pension benefits fell by 35 per cent while in the US the drop was almost 25 per cent.

?Some governments are being pressured to retreat from private pensions but public 'Pay As You Go' systems face sustainability problems given ageing populations which are also affected by the crisis as unemployment increases? a spokesperson for the OECD told the press.

The organisation have since urged governments around the globe?to consider incentives to encourage people to continue working past state retirement age, however there is still a growing debate about the international accounting rules that require assets to be marked-to-market, a debate which is not dissimilar to that of the banking industry.