Which countries have the highest and lowest pensions in Europe?

Euronews

2 days ago

Pensions are the main source of income for older people in Europe, according to the OECD's Pension at a Glance 2023 report. In many European countries, public transfers—such as state pensions and benefits—account for over 70% of older adults' total equivalised gross household income, exceeding 80% in some cases.
So, how much do Europeans receive in old-age pensions? What is the average pension expenditure per beneficiary? And how do pension levels compare across Europe when adjusted for purchasing power?
According to Eurostat, in 2022, the average pension expenditure per beneficiary for old-age pensions was €16,138 in the EU. This equals approximately €1,345 per month when divided over 12 months.
It ranged from €3,611 in Bulgaria to €31,385 in Luxembourg within the EU. When EFTA and EU candidate countries are included, the range widens—from €1,648 in Albania to €35,959 in Iceland.
The average old-age pension per beneficiary also exceeded €30,000 in two Nordic countries: Norway and Denmark. It was also significantly above the EU average in Sweden (€22,436) and Finland (€21,085).
Besides Albania, EU candidate countries have the lowest average pensions. These include Turkey (€2,942), Bosnia and Herzegovina (€3,041), Serbia (€3,486), and Montenegro (€3,962). Montenegro ranks just above Bulgaria, but only by a small margin. These are annual figures, not monthly, demonstrating the wide gap between the lowest and highest pension levels in Europe.
The EU's 'Big Four' economies ranked consecutively, all above the EU average. Italy had the highest average pension among them at €19,589, followed by France (€18,855), Spain (€18,100), and Germany (€17,926).
Average pension figures show that:
There's a strong East-West divide, with Western and Nordic Europe offering much higher pension benefits.
The Southern European countries generally fare better than Eastern ones but still trail behind Northern Europe.
The poorest performers are concentrated in the Balkans and Eastern EU, particularly among EU candidate countries.
Inequalities in average pensions are significantly narrower when measured in purchasing power standards (PPS) compared to nominal terms.
For example, within the EU, the ratio between the highest and lowest average pension is 8.8 in nominal terms, but it drops to 3.5 in PPS, reflecting differences in living costs.
In the EU, average pension expenditure per beneficiary ranged from 5,978 PPS in Slovakia to 21,162 PPS in Austria.
When non-EU countries are included, Albania had the lowest figure at 3,019 PPS.
Turkey ranked significantly higher in PPS terms, with 8,128 PPS—placing it above several EU member states.
All Nordic countries are above the EU average in pension spending, with some ranking among the highest in Europe.
In euro terms, the average pension fell in only three countries in 2022 compared to 2021—and by less than 5%. These were Turkey, Ireland, and Greece. In Turkey, the decline was primarily due to a sharp depreciation of the national currency, which affected the euro value of pensions.
In contrast, Bulgaria saw the largest increase at 33%, followed by Czechia with 16%. Pension growth also exceeded 10% in Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, and Romania.
Old-age pensions are periodic payments intended to i) maintain the income of the beneficiary after retirement from paid employment at the legal or standard age or ii) support the income of elderly people.
According to the 2024 Pension Adequacy Report, jointly prepared by the European Commission and the Social Protection Committee, EU countries are taking further steps to safeguard adequacy, but future adequacy remains under pressure. Pension replacement rates for a given career are projected to decline over the next four decades.
The risk of poverty and social exclusion among older people has continued to rise since 2019, mainly driven by increasing relative income poverty.
In 2022, more than one in five people aged 65 and over in the EU—about 18.5 million individuals—were at risk of poverty or social exclusion. This number is growing due to both the rising poverty rate and the ageing population.
Across much of Europe, pension income falls well below pre-retirement earnings. This gap makes it hard for many older adults to maintain their standard of living after they stop working.
The report shows that older women face higher poverty risks than men in every EU country. On average, women in the EU receive 26.1% less pension income than men, and 5.3% of women receive no pension at all.
These gaps are rooted in gender pay disparities, shorter or interrupted careers, and a higher incidence of part-time work among women.
Nvidia reported first-quarter earnings for fiscal year 2026 that exceeded market expectations and provided an upbeat outlook for the current quarter. This comes despite an estimated $8 billion (€7.1 billion) loss due to US chip export restrictions affecting sales to China.
Nvidia's share price jumped nearly 5% in after-hours trading, placing it just 8% below its all-time high in January. Year-to-date, the stock is set to return to a positive return amid the price surge. Nvidia is now the world's biggest company, surpassing Microsoft and Apple in market capitalisation.
'Investors entered this quarter looking for signs that Nvidia could alleviate short-term concerns. What they received was a clear message that demand remains robust,' said Josh Gilbert, a market analyst at eToro Australia.
Sales revenue from Nvidia's core business, data centres, increased by 73% year-on-year to $39.1 billion (€34.7 billion), reaching a new record. However, this represented a deceleration from 93% growth in the previous quarter. Despite the slower pace, the result aligned with market expectations, as some analysts had anticipated weaker figures due to regulatory headwinds.
Overall revenue rose 69% to $44.1 billion (€39.2 billion), while earnings per share came in at $0.96 (€0.85), both ahead of expectations. CEO Jensen Huang attributed the sustained growth to strong global demand for artificial intelligence (AI), particularly from major cloud service providers. Nvidia's most advanced AI chip, Blackwell, 'is now in full-scale production across system makers and cloud service providers,' said Huang.
'Global demand for Nvidia's AI infrastructure is incredibly strong. AI inference token generation has surged tenfold in just one year, and as AI agents become mainstream, the demand for AI computing will accelerate. Countries around the world are recognising AI as essential infrastructure—just like electricity and the internet—and Nvidia stands at the centre of this profound transformation,' he added.
The company expects revenue of $45 billion (€40 billion), plus or minus 2%, for the current quarter. 'This outlook reflects a loss in H20 revenue of approximately $8.0 billion due to the recent export control limitations,' it stated.
The US government required Nvidia to obtain export licences for its H20 GPUs destined for China during the first quarter. Although the H20 chips had previously been approved, the new rules led to $4.5 billion (€4 billion) in write-downs due to excess inventory. Without this, the company would have generated an additional $2.5 billion (€2.2 billion) in sales.
As a result, Nvidia's gross margin for the first quarter stood at 61%. It would have been 71.3% had the charges not occurred. 'The $50 billion China market is effectively closed to
the US industry,' Huang said. 'As a result, we are taking a multibillion-dollar write-off on inventory that cannot be sold or repurposed.'
Nvidia expects a non-GAAP gross margin of 72.0%, plus or minus 50 basis points, for the current quarter. For context, the margin was 73.5% in the fourth quarter of 2024 and 79% during the same quarter of the previous fiscal year.
In an interview with Bloomberg TV, Huang noted that Nvidia is exploring alternatives to the H20 chip. However, the company must obtain approval from the US government for any such measures.
Nvidia is among the tech giants supporting President Donald Trump's ambitious AI initiatives in the United States, announced in January. The company also unveiled a partnership with Saudi Arabia's HUMAIN to build AI factories in the kingdom during a recent visit to the region that coincided with Trump's trip. These developments were highlighted in the earnings report in the section for data centre.
'While sales in China are clouded by export restrictions, the Middle East looks set to become the new launchpad for Nvidia's next phase of growth,' Gilbert added.