Total Expenditure on Pensions 2018
A more recent publication of this set of statistics is available: Total Expenditure on Pensions
The total expenditure on pensions was confirmed as EUR 31.3 billion
A total of 30.2 billion euros were paid in pensions by the Finnish earnings-related pension system and Kela in 2018. The earnings-related pensions paid amounted to 27.9 billion euros and Kela pensions to 2.4 billion euros.
The majority of the pensions (€25.6 billion) were paid as old-age pensions. Disability pensions accounted for 8 per cent (€2.5 billion) and survivors’ pensions for 6 per cent (€1.7 billion) of the total pension expenditure. The combined share of part-time pensions and farmers’ special pensions was less than 1 per cent of the total pension expenditure.
In addition to the earnings-related and Kela pensions, the total pension expenditure also includes voluntary supplementary pensions and benefits paid under special pension provisions. Such pension-like benefits are paid under the Workers’ Compensation Act, the Motor Liability Insurance Act, the Act on Compensation for Military Accidents and Service-Related Illnesses and the Act on Compensation for Accidents and Service-related Illnesses in Crisis Management Duties.
A total of 31.3 billion euros were paid in pensions and pension-like benefits in Finland in 2018.
Quality description: Total Expenditure on Pensions in Finland 2018
The statistic Total expenditure on Pensions is produced at the Finnish Centre for Pensions.
The Finnish Centre for Pensions (ETK) has a statutory obligation to prepare statistics. The Act on the Finnish Centre for Pensions states that one of the assignments of the Finnish Centre for Pensions is to produce statistics relating to its field of operations. Statistics are produced by the Planning Department of the Finnish Centre for Pensions.
Costs of producing statistics are paid by the Finnish Centre for Pensions.
Relevance of statistical information
The statutory pension security in Finland primarily consists of two statutory pension schemes, the earnings-related pension scheme and the national pension scheme. Benefits classified as pensions according to the Workers’ Compensation Act, the Motor Insurance Act, the Military Injuries Act, the Act on Compensation for Military Accidents and Service-related Illnesses and the Act on Compensation for Accidents and Service-related Illnesses in Crisis Management Duties also constitute statutory pension security.
In the private sector, earnings-related pensions are managed by earnings-related pension providers as well as company-wide and industry-wide pension funds, and, in the public sector, primarily by Keva. The Finnish Centre for Pensions acts as a centre for the earnings-related pension scheme and collects e.g. the information necessary for processing earnings-related pension matters in the management of its statutory assignments. Kela is in charge of the national pension scheme. Kela also manages the payment of guarantee pensions.
The statistic Total expenditure of Pensions gathers together the amount of statutory pensions paid by different systems. The statistic also includes information on voluntary registered and unregistered supplementary pensions paid by the employer. Voluntary pensions paid by the individuals themselves are not included in the figures of the statistic.
The data in the statistic has been classified based on pension scheme and pension type. Earnings-related pensions have been divided into pensions paid by the private and the public sectors. The concepts used in the statistic have been defined on the website of the statistic in the section Concepts and definitions.
The statistic is intended for social security decision-makers, planners, researchers and professionals in the field of pensions. The information is also of interest to the media, pensioner interest groups and others in need of such information.
Correctness and accuracy of data
The data in the statistic is based on register data.
Data on pensions paid by the earnings-related pension scheme and Kela are formed from the statistical data storage jointly maintained by the Finnish Centre for Pensions and Kela, which contains information about individuals receiving pension from the earnings-related or national pension schemes as well as of the annual pension expenditure.
Data on pensions paid in accordance with the Workers’ Compensation Act, the Motor Insurance Act, the Military Injuries Act, the Act on Compensation for Military Accidents and Service-related Illnesses and the Act on Compensation for Accidents and Service-related Illnesses in Crisis Management Duties comes from the Insurance Centre, the Workers’ Compensation Centre, the State Treasury and the Famers’ Social Insurance Institution. Data on voluntary, unregistered supplementary pensions comes from the Finnish Financial Supervisory Authority.
Data on the cash amounts of pensions paid according to the old pension regulations governing municipalities and the Evangelical-Lutheran Church are added to the total pension expenditure sum of the public sector. The pension-specific data of the statistic does not include these pensions. Data on the cash amounts of pensions paid according to the old pension regulations are based on data provided to the Finnish Centre for Pensions by Kela.
Any errors discovered in the statistic are immediately corrected in all statistical products where they are found. Our procedures of correction follow the guidelines of Finland’s official statistics advisory board.
Timeliness and promptness of published data
Advance information about the statistic is published in the spring following the statistical year. The final data is published in the autumn of the year following the statistical year. Statistical publication dates are reported annually in the publication calendar on the website of the Finnish Centre for Pensions at www.etk.fi/tilastot.
Coherence and comparability of data
The Finnish Centre for Pensions has been producing the statistic Total expenditure on pensions in Finland from the statistical year 2016 onwards. The statistic was previously produced by Kela.
In connection with the change in producer, the time series of the statistic has been retroactively corrected back to the year 1986. The change concerns earnings-related pension expenditure, corrected in keeping with the register data of the Finnish Centre for Pensions. The correction causes slight changes also to the total sum of pension expenditure. At the same time, changes have also been made to the classification of data.
The basic data of the statistic is available from the year 1960 onwards. The total sums of the time series are for the most part comparable. Changes occurring in pension legislation should, however, be taken into account when comparing the time series. One notable change is the change in the concept ‘national pension’ that took effect on 1 January 2008, following which the care and residential support of a pension recipient are no longer considered to be part of the pension.
The Finnish Centre for Pensions publishes the statistical data from the year 1986 onwards. Statistical data from previous years is available from the statistical information service of Kela (tilastot(at)kela.fi).
Availability and clarity of data
The statistical data is published annually on the website of the Finnish Centre for Pensions on www.etk.fi/statistics and in the statistical database of the Finnish Centre for Pensions on http://tilastot.etk.fi
Additional information about the statistic is provided by the statistical service of the Finnish Centre for Pensions at tilastot(at)etk.fi.
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