This paper empirically investigates the role of pension systems in driving current account balances. We construct three indicators—a system’s type of funding, generosity, and coverage—to measure pension systems. Using a panel of 49 countries that spans over 30 years, we find that the presence of a fully-funded system is associated with a higher current account balance. Further, we find that this effect increases with the system’s generosity and coverage. In contrast, we find no significant correlation between pay-as-you-go systems and current account balances. By accounting for pension indicators, we are able to explain a significant share of the increase in current account surpluses in advanced economies over the past two decades.