Over 25% of EU citizens receive pensions; in Italy it’s 16.3% of GDP

Brussels – 12.9 per cent of the gross domestic product of EU countries, about €1,882 billion:  That’s how much EU countries spent in 2021 to pay pensions to more than a quarter of EU citizens. Spending is up 2.8 per cent from the previous year but mitigated by the simultaneous increase in GDP.

According to the data released by the Statistical Office of the European Union, those weighing most heavily on member countries’ state coffers are Greek and Italian pensioners. The ratio of pension spending to GDP peaks in Greece, at 16.4 per cent, followed by Italy at 16.3, Austria at 15, and France at 14.9. On the other end, spending to support the elderly, disabled and unemployed weighs less in Ireland (4.5 per cent of GDP), Malta (6.4), Hungary (7) and Lithuania (7.1). 

In the EU, 27.2 per cent of the EU population receives a pension. Under the average is Italy, where, as of December 31, 2021, there were a little over 15.5 million pensioners. Italy is, however, the country of the “Methuselahs” in the Union, with the highest average age in the Continent: 48 years. In fact, retirement pensions were by far the largest category in the EU, with 79.9 per cent of all pension spending and 80.3 per cent of beneficiaries. Survivor pensions (to family members of a deceased pensioner) were the second largest category, with 12 per cent of spending and 21.3 per cent of beneficiaries, followed by disability pensions (7.9 per cent of spending and 12.2 per cent of beneficiaries) and unemployment pensions (0.2 per cent of spending and 0.1 per cent of beneficiaries).

In 2021, a retired older adult in the EU received an average of €15,428. However, pension spending per recipient of an old-age pension varies widely among EU member states, with a maximum of €30,898 in Luxembourg and a minimum of €2,715 in Bulgaria. In Italy, the average was around €18,000.