What are the expected demographic developments in Sri Lanka? What is the current status of the elderly relative to other groups? What are the current systems of retirement protection, and how adequate are they? What are the gaps in coverage, and what options are available to extend access affordably? These are questions this paper aims to answer through its research on Sri Lanka’s rapid change in demographic with the ageing of its population. This paper uses Sri Lanka as a case study in examining these ageing patterns, with the aim of having a better understanding of the status of the elderly and adequacy and coverage of the current system of retirement benefits in Sri Lanka. Whilst economic dependency has remained stable in Sri Lanka, old-age dependency is found to be increasing with only a quarter of Sri Lankans working age population covered by retirement benefits. This publication explores the need to redistribute income from workers to non-workers in order to achieve comprehensive retirement coverage, arguing for a means tested retirement scheme, due to a universal pension benefit scheme being unaffordable to the country in the medium to long-term.