People often have strong notions when it comes to their pension and they believe that their own pension is low. It is a common conception that many others receive a large pension. People fear that their future pension will be minimal, if they even get one at all. However, statistics reveal the reality of pensions free from assumptions.
The Finnish Centre for Pensions has, together with Kela, published a new compilation of annual data on the average pensions received by Finnish people. In 2023, the average monthly pension paid in Finland increased to 1,977 euro per month. This signifies a strong growth, as it marks an increase of 132 euro over the average of the previous year, which was 1,845 euro.
Below you will find a few key points about the 2023 statistics:
- A total of 1.6 million Finnish people drew a pension. This is approximately 33 per cent of the population of Finland, comprising everyone over the age of 16.
- More than 60 per cent of the pension recipients received a monthly pension of under 2,000 euro.
- Approximately 2 per cent of the pension recipients received a large pension of over 5,000 euro per month.
- On average, the pension of a man was larger than that of a woman. In 2023, a man received, on average, a pension of 2,216 euro whereas the average pension of a woman was 1,779 euro per month.
- People living in Uusimaa were paid the largest average pensions (on average 2,322 euro per month), whereas those living in Southern Ostrobothnia received the smallest average pensions (on average 1,742 euro per month).
- Approximately 5 per cent of the working-age population received disability pension.
What increases the pension?
Earnings-related pension is accrued on the basis of the earnings paid during the entire work career or the insured income of entrepreneurial activities and agricultural entrepreneurship. The longer the work career and the higher the earnings, the larger the pension. In all fairness, the same applies to pension insurance contributions; with a higher income, the contributions are also higher.
The percentages used to calculate both the accruing pension and the pension contribution are, however, the same for everyone in the same age group. Thus, a higher pay does not accrue pension with a higher percentage but the rules that apply to the accrual are the same for everyone. The idea behind this model is to ensure that the future pension corresponds to each person’s own work career and earnings level.
If you like statistics, like I do, you can delve into the world of pension facts using the recent publication of the Finnish Centre for Pensions and investigate the average figures in, for example, your own municipality or age group. You can start with reviewing your own pension record, which is available for Veritas customers in our online service at veritas.fi/pension-record. The record also gives you an estimate of your future pension. Those who are not Veritas customers can find the right address to access their pension record by visiting the Finnish Centre for Pensions site tyoelake.fi.
Your neighbour’s pension is, however, confidential information, unless they reveal it to you themselves.
Read also:
- Finnish Centre for Pensions: Average pension in Finland nearly €2,000 (27 March 2024)
- Finnish Centre for Pensions: Statistics on Pensioners in Finland
