An elderly person moves with a walker in Kamppi, Helsinki. LEHTIKUVA
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Kela paid national and guarantee pensions to approximately 544,000 people in 2024, with total pension payments reaching €2.64 billion. The number of recipients has steadily declined, reflecting rising earnings-related pensions and fewer people qualifying for state support.
Starting in February 2025, Kela will no longer pay national pensions to recipients living in EU and EEA countries, Switzerland, or the UK due to a legislative change.
In 2024, around 541,000 people received a national pension, down by 46,000 (8%) over the past five years and by 89,000 (14%) over the past decade. Payments for national pensions alone amounted to €2.33 billion in 2024.
The number of beneficiaries living abroad has also fallen in recent years. In 2024, just over 24,000 people received a national pension outside Finland, with two-thirds of them being women. The average monthly payment abroad was slightly below €140, and total overseas payments amounted to €43.2 million.
Karoliina Koskenvuo, research professor at Kela, said the trend is linked to rising earnings-related pensions.
“The number of national pension recipients has steadily declined, including those receiving payments abroad. As earnings-related pensions increase, more retirees exceed the income threshold for receiving a national pension,” Koskenvuo said.
The number of guarantee pension recipients grew until 2021 due to registry checks that identified people eligible for the benefit. These checks in 2019 and 2021 added 11,000 new recipients. Since then, the number has remained stable, with 116,500 people receiving a guarantee pension in 2024.
Total payments for guarantee pensions have slightly increased, reaching €312.7 million in 2024. This growth is attributed to annual index adjustments and occasional benefit increases.
Most pensioners receive national or guarantee pensions as a supplement to their earnings-related pensions. The national pension decreases as the earnings-related pension rises and is no longer granted once a certain income level is reached. The guarantee pension ensures a minimum pension for those whose total monthly pre-tax pensions fall below €978.34.
HT
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Source: www.helsinkitimes.fi
