Press releases

For the first time, mental disorders surpassed musculoskeletal diseases as the main cause for retirement on a disability pension.  Disability pensions granted for mental disorders increased clearly in 2016. Depression has become a particularly common reason for retirement on a disability pension for women who are young or nearing their retirement age.

At year-end 2019, the number of partial old-age pension recipients in Finland was 25,000, which is an increase of 6,000 from the end of 2018. Nearly all take out 50 per cent of their accrued old-age pension. The average monthly partial old-age pension was 800 euros and the median 720 euros, statistics of the Finnish …

The average monthly pension of Finns exceeded 1,700 euros for the first time. In real terms, it has risen by nearly 200 euros in one decade. For nearly 40 per cent of the retirees, the monthly pension was less than 1,250 euros. The number of pension recipients increased in all provinces except Uusimaa, where the …

According to the statistics of the Finnish Centre for Pensions, people in Finland retired on an old-age pension at age 61.5 years on average in 2019. This is about one month later than in 2018. A total of 44,500 persons retired on an old-age pension. This is 10 per cent less than in 2018.

Experts from Sweden, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands and Finland presented the balancing mechanisms of their pension systems in a recent seminar at the Finnish Centre for Pensions. The mechanisms include indexing and pension cuts.

In its recent review, the OECD compliments Finland for its low old-age income inequalities. However, the OECD also expresses a concern for the low pension adequacy of the self-employed and suggests measures to improve their pensions. Pension levels in relation to earnings will be reduced in the future in most OECD countries, also in Finland.

Finland’s low birth rates can partly be explained by women having children at an increasingly higher age. This is evident from a joint study of the Finnish Centre for Pensions, the University of Helsinki and the Max Planck Institute. If the demographers’ fertility rate scenario was realised, the long-term upward pressure on contributions would fall …

In 2018, the median monthly earnings of women insured under the earnings-related pension acts were 610 euros less than men’s. The gap was 850 euros in the private sector and 330 euros per month in the public sector. The monthly insured earnings of women were 80 per cent of those of men.

Private and public pension systems will merge into one pension system. Among other things, the merger will strengthen the sustainability and risk management of the earnings-related pension system and streamline the definition of disability and the criteria for disability pensions.

In the long run, the declining birth rates cause a strong upward pressure on pension contribution rates. A major increase in immigration or an equivalent reduction in migration, on the other hand, would ease the pressure by several percentage points. The magnitude of the impact depends on the employment outcome of the various groups of …