According to a comparison made by Eurostat (European Union’s statistical office), the average old-age pension in Finland is around 1,600 euros. When measured in purchasing power, it is around 1,300 euros.   

The Finnish average pension is clearly higher than the EU average. Given in euros, the country variation of pensions is large. The variation evens out when the variation in price levels is taken into account, that is, when the pensions are measured in terms of their purchasing power. Yet the average pension measured in purchasing power in Finland is higher than the average in Europe. (In the Figure below, purchasing power = Purchasing Power Standard (PPS)/month.)

The statistics are indicative. Making international comparisons of pension levels is difficult because of the considerable differences in pension systems. For all countries, the comparative data do not include occupational pensions that supplement statutory pensions and that wage earners in many countries are covered by. In addition, the comparison does not take into account how taxation affects the final pension amount. 

The figures have been calculated from Eurostat’s database by dividing old-age pension expenditure by the number of old-age pension recipients. Due to the calculation and statistical method, the data may differ from the national data on average pensions.   

Read more:

• Average pensions in Finland

Statistical data: 

• Pension expenditure (Eurostat database)
• Pension beneficiaries (Eurostat database)