Nearly one million old-age pensioners in Norway

Older married couplesOlder married couples on the trip. Photo Norway Today Media

Today, 953,900 people in this country receive old-age pension. This is 20,400 more than in September 2018. A total of 18 per cent of the population are old-age pensioners.

“The number of old-age pensioners increased by 2.2 per cent in the past year,” says Ole Christian Lien, Head of Section at NAV.

He says there is reason to expect at least as strong growth in the years to come.

“We believe that the number of old-age pensioners will pass 1 million by the end of 2021,” says Lien.

More old-age pensioners means increased pension expenditure from the state budget. The retirement pension expenditure in 2019 is expected to be approximately NOK 232 billion, 11 billion higher than in 2018.

“In 2019, retirement pension accounts for 17 per cent of the state budget. The corresponding share 10 years ago was 13 per cent,” says Lien.

Pension reform is starting to work
At the same time, Lien points out that pension reform from 2011 is an important contribution to financial stability.

“In the years after 2011, pension reform has resulted in somewhat higher spending from the state budget. This is because many have chosen to take retirement pension from the age of 62 and because the savings effects of the reform have been small. From 2020, we expect that pension reform will provide net savings and eventually slow the sharp growth in spending,” says Lien.

The average age at first withdrawal from retirement pension is 65.4 years so far in 2019. For women, the average age at first withdrawal was 66.1 years and for men 64.8 years.

5 per cent live abroad
More than 5 per cent of old-age pensioners, 48,800 people, live abroad. Since 2009, the number of old-age pensioners living abroad has increased by 74 per cent.

In September 2019, the average monthly pension paid was NOK 20,500.

Women were paid an average of NOK 18,300, while men were paid NOK 22,900. The difference is due to lower wages, a higher proportion of part-time work and fewer working years among women.

© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today

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