Press releases

The age at which people retire on an earnings-related pension in Finland has increased faster than anticipated. Last year, the average effective retirement age was 63.2 years At the same time, the employment rate among older people continued to improve.

In 2026, there will be some important changes to earnings-related pensions in Finland: new age groups will reach their retirement age, pensions will accrue in the same way for everyone, and pensions can grow for one additional year. Adjustments to indexes and the life expectancy coefficient will also affect pension amounts. On this page, you will find the most significant changes at a glance.

For many years, the number of old-age pensioners has been on the rise, but now the trend has levelled off. The rising retirement age has led to a decline in the number of working pensioners. Working particularly attracts pensioners who are highly educated and have higher incomes.

In 2024, employees’ median monthly earnings were 3,208 euros, an increase of 3.3 per cent from 2023. Despite this positive development in earnings, concerns remain over the difficulties young people are facing when trying to access the labour market. According to earnings statistics of the Finnish Centre for Pensions, the number of new employees covered by earnings-reated pension insurance has decreased around 10 per cent annually.

This year, Finland ranked eighth in the international Mercer CFA Institute Global Pension Index comparison. Finland dropped one notch compared to 2024. Finland continues to be rated as having the most reliable pension system governance in the world.

Around 55 per cent of Finns consider the pension reform proposal agreed in January to be good or very good. According to the Pension Barometer, around half of Finns have confidence in the pension system, although this has declined compared to previous surveys. Responses to the Barometer reflect an increase in general uncertainty.

Private savings for retirement have increased significantly over the past decade. According to a comprehensive survey by the Finnish Centre for Pensions, more than half of people aged 25–67 are saving or have saved for retirement in 2024.

The investment year 2024 was surprisingly good for pension funds worldwide. In the international performance comparison conducted by the Finnish Centre for Pensions, the average real return exceeded long-term figures. Finnish pension funds were among the best in their category.

The popularity of early partial retirement has grown significantly in recent years. Among those born in 1956, about 20 per cent of those entitled to this benefit opted to retire before their retirement age, while among those born in 1959, the figure rose to 40 per cent, according to a new study by the Finnish Centre for Pensions.

The average monthly pension for Finns continued to grow last year. In 2024, earnings-related pensions and pensions paid by Kela amounted to 39.1 billion euros.