Topical issues

In 2026, earnings-related pension contributions will change: in the future, all employees will pay the same amount in pension contribution, regardless of age.

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.

The Ministry for Social Affair and Health in Finland has confirmed the life expectancy coefficient for 2026. The coefficient will cut starting pensions by nearly 5.4 per cent – more than in 2024. The pension amount is multiplied by the life expectancy coefficient at the start of retirement, that is, when the pension is granted.

Are you doing research on pensions and retirement? We offer you a chance to present your work at the second ETK Pension Research Forum webinar to a broad and international audience of pension experts, academics, stakeholders and policymakers.

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.

Representatives from the liaison bodies of Finland and Poland met in Warsaw from 24 to 26 September 2025. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the coordination of social security and to further develop cooperation between the two countries.

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.

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.

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.