And large numbers of those who do not have an occupational or private pension say their employer does not offer one.
New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that only six out of 10 workers have some sort of pension to supplement the State's PRSI pension.
Most of those who have a pension to boost the State pension have one through their job.
Next year, the State pension will not be payable until people reach the age of 67.
Most of those who do not have a private or occupational pension expect to rely on the State pension in retirement, according to the CSO's 'Pension Coverage 2019' publication.
More than half of workers with no occupational pension say their employer does not offer one.
A quarter said they chose not to join their employer's pension scheme. A further 15pc of employees without an occupational pension were not eligible to join their employer's occupational pension scheme.
Almost a third of workers with personal pension coverage had deferred payments for a period.
Questions were posed to workers about why they have no pension.
Just over a third said they have never got around to putting one in place. A similar number said they can't afford one.
The Government is planning to launch an auto-enrolment pension scheme from 2022 in a bid to dramatically increase pension coverage.
Pension coverage is lowest among younger workers. Only one in five workers between the ages of 20 and 24 has a pension.
The numbers with a pension more than double for those in the 24 to 34 age bracket.
Pension coverage is greatest among workers between the ages of 45 and 54, with seven out of 10 of these having a pension through their job or through membership of a private scheme.
The Irish Congress of Trade Unions social policy officer, Dr Laura Bambrick, said the CSO figures reaffirm the need for an auto-enrolment system.
Jerry Moriarty, of the Irish Association of Pension Funds, said it assumed the core reason for not taking out a pension is affordability, but it is not that simple.
He said there are many reasons, including a deep lack of understanding of how pensions work and how important they are, coupled with an element of mistrust in a pension system so complex that even the experts struggle to get their heads around it.
He said the last Public Service Pay Commission report found that there is almost 100pc pension coverage in the public sector, but four out of 10 private sector workers will be reliant on the State pension in retirement.
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