Topical issues

In 2022, Finns retired on an earnings-related pension a couple of months earlier than in 2021. The average effective retirement age was 62.2 years. The dip was due to the large amount of new pensioners on an old-age pension.

Each year, the Finnish Centre for Pensions grants a Pro Gradu Award to a distinguished Master’s thesis. Might your thesis be the next winner of the 2,000 euro award? Apply by 19 March 2023.

The Finnish Centre for Pensions granted a record number of A1 certificates of coverage under Finnish social security in 2022. The volumes returned to the growth trajectory that preceded the corona years.

A recent study by the Finnish Centre for Pensions shows that retirement has been deferred clearly, particularly in the private sector. Working after age 63 has also increased significantly, again particularly in the private sector. The gradual increase of the retirement age was agreed on in connection with the 2017 pension reform.  The new study …

In 2021, a total of 95,000 persons began their work insured under the earnings-related pension acts for the first time. That was a 25-per-cent increase compared to 2020 and nearly at a pre-corona level. The average monthly earnings of Finnish employees in 2021 was 3,200 euros according to earnings statistics of the Finnish Centre for Pensions

As the A1 certificate may be needed also for short periods of work abroad, the Finnish Centre for Pensions advices employers to apply for it also when sending their employees abroad to work for a short period of time. The underlying reason for this is that working abroad has become increasingly common, which has led to the need to specify the instructions on when to apply for an A1 certificate. For those travelling often, it is worth the while to apply for the A1 certificate for two years at a time.

The number of pension claims soared at the end of 2022 as tens of thousands of Finns claimed the partial old-age pension. Exceptionally, the increase in the earnings-related pension index was clearly higher than the increase in the wage coefficient. It encouraged people to claim the pension already in 2022.

The average disposable income of pensioners in 2020 was 27,000 euros. Pensioners’ income level relative to the employed population is 77 per cent. The ratio has remained virtually the same over the last decades. Single, particularly under-55-year-olds, have a smaller-than-average income.

When starting working as a self-employed person, the confirmed income for insurance under the Self-employed Persons’ Pensions Act (YEL) can be estimated using the calculator on Tyoelake.fi. The calculator as part of the instructions on confirmed income is also a useful tool when guiding self-employed people. The calculator is open to all and requires no login. It is available in English, Finnish and Swedish.

Are you looking for information on the economic wellbeing of pensioners in Finland? Do you want to know more about how pensions have developed or how large the pension income is relative to wages in Finland? Do you know how well the pension system is known? The Finnish Centre for Pensions has compiled its key research findings on its website in the section “Findings from our research”.