News

Traditionally, cooperation between EU member states on pension matters has been cautious and limited. However, this has changed lately. In recent decades, EU pension policy has gained fresh momentum, and the Commission has taken a more active role in pension affairs. The Commission’s latest initiative is the Savings and Investment Union, which includes a strategy to increase the provision of supplementary pensions across Europe.

The Finnish Centre for Pensions’ Pro Gradu Award has been given to Noora Lähteenmäki, who holds a Master’s degree in Social Sciences. Her Master’s thesis examines the process of rehabilitation under the earnings-related pension scheme and the roles of different actors within the process. The Finnish Centre for Pensions annually awards an outstanding Master’s thesis on a pension-related topic.

In 2024, 31,000 partial old-age pensions started. Partial old-age pensions are used both to ease the financial situation and to reduce the workload.

The Finnish Centre for Pensions (ETK) has published new guidelines on Finnish social insurance contributions in several languages. A new addition are the guidelines in Spanish.

The question of how much pension one gets for one’s contributions is often raised in the Finnish pension debate. The new country comparison in a recent analysis by the Finnish Centre for Pensions provides one way of examining the relationship between statutory pension contributions and old-age pensions. According to the comparison, the lowest old-age pension is about half of the contribution, while the highest old-age pension is almost one and a half times the contribution.

The Sections “Working abroad” and “Pensions from abroad” on the Etk.fi website have been updated. The idea behind the update was to make the web pages clearer and to help people apply for the A1 certificate and pensions from abroad.

The Finnish Centre for Pensions produces independent research data on how the earnings-related pension system works, the impacts of pension reforms and how the pension system is achieving its objectives. In 2025–2029, our research focuses on four key areas: working careers, transition to retirement, pension adequacy, and the financial sustainability of the pension system.

The assets of the Finnish earnings-related pension system increased by about 20 billion euros in 2024. The growth is due to investment returns. Insurance contribution income increased by more than half a billion euros.

The number of Finns retiring on disability pensions each year has remained relatively stable throughout the 2020s. In 2024, this number saw a slight decrease, marking the lowest in statistical history. These figures come from the latest statistics by the Finnish Centre for Pensions.

The first ETK Pension Research Forum delves into pension reforms, their impact and the issues that need to be addressed in future reforms. Welcome to the webinar on Monday 17 March 2025 at 13:00–15:00 (CET). The webinar is in English.