Which countries have the highest and lowest pensions in Europe: Bulgaria the weakest in the EU, Montenegro slightly above

According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report "Pensions at a Glance 2023", pensions are the main source of income for older people in Europe. In many European countries, state pensions and social benefits account for over 70 percent of the total gross equivalised household income of older people, and in some cases more than 80 percent.

How much pension do Europeans receive? According to Eurostat, the average spending per old-age pension recipient in the EU was 16.138 euros in 2022, which is about 1.345 euros per month, MSN reports.

Northern Europe leads the way in terms of pensions. Within the EU, the average pension ranges from €3.611 in Bulgaria to €31.385 in Luxembourg. When EFTA and EU candidate countries are included, the range varies from €1.648 in Albania to €35.959 in Iceland.

Other Nordic countries that record high average pensions per beneficiary are Norway and Denmark - above 30.000 euros, Sweden - 22.436 euros and Finland - 21.085 euros.

EU candidate countries have the lowest pensions. In addition to Albania, candidate countries with the lowest average annual pensions are Turkey - 2.942 euros, Bosnia and Herzegovina - 3.041 euros, Serbia - 3.486 euros and Montenegro - 3.962 euros.

Montenegro is ranked just above Bulgaria, the EU member state with the lowest average old-age pension, but by a small margin. The four largest EU economies are above the European average. These are Italy with 19.589 euros, France - 18.855 euros, Spain - 18.100 euros and Germany - 17.926 euros.

The data also shows a clear division between the East and the West of Europe. The Western and Nordic countries have significantly higher pensions. The Southern countries are doing better than the Eastern ones, but still lag behind the Northern ones. The lowest values ​​are recorded in the Balkan and Eastern European countries, especially the EU candidates.

When pensions are expressed in purchasing power standards (PPS), the differences between countries are much smaller. For example, the nominal difference between the highest and lowest pensions in the EU is 8,8 times, while in PPS it is 3,5 times. In the EU, the range of PPS ranges from 5.978 in Slovakia to 21.162 in Austria. Outside the EU, Albania has the lowest PPS: 3.019. Turkey does better in PPS: 8.128 – which is above several EU member states.

All Nordic countries exceed the EU average in both real and PPS spending on pensions. Pensions decline recorded in three countries in 2022.

Compared to 2021, the average pension in euros has decreased in Turkey, Ireland, Greece. In Turkey, the reason is the devaluation of the national currency.

The largest growth in pensions was recorded in Bulgaria (+33%), the Czech Republic (+16%) and more than 10% growth in Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro and Romania.

According to the 2024 Pension Adequacy Report (EC and the Social Protection Committee), EU countries are making efforts to preserve the adequacy of pensions. However, the risk of poverty among the elderly has been increasing since 2019.

In 2022, more than a fifth of people over 65 in the EU – around 18,5 million – were at risk of poverty or social exclusion. Pensions often do not reach the level of pre-retirement earnings, making it difficult to maintain a standard of living.

There is also a noticeable gender gap in pensions. Women receive significantly lower pensions - on average 26,1% less than men, while 5,3% of women do not receive a pension at all. Lower lifetime earnings, more frequent job interruptions and a higher rate of part-time work are cited as reasons.