The average effective retirement age of Finnish people with an earnings-related pension fell from 62.4 years in 2021 to 62.2 years in 2022, the Finnish Centre for Pensions (ETK) has revealed.

ETK stated that the dip was expected due to the large amount of new pensioners on an old-age pension.

The number of pension claims made by Finnish people increased at the end of 2022 due to the increase in the earnings-related pension index.

Before 2022, a “significantly smaller” number of people retired on an old-age pension compared to before the 2017 pension reforms, according to ETK.

Furthermore, as the number of new pensioners on a disability pension had also been smaller in recent years than previously, the average effective retirement age had risen sharply.

“In 2022, the number of new pensioners was considerably larger than in recent years, which made the expected effective retirement age dip,” explained ETK development manager, Jari Kannisto.

“However, we have reason to expect the dip to be temporary and the effective retirement age to return to its upward trajectory.

“One of the main reasons behind the large number of new pensioners on an old-age pension in 2022 was the retirement rush at the end of the year due to the exceptional index development.”

In 2022, around 71,500 people retired on an earnings-related pension, representing an increase of around 10,000 people compared to 2021.

The majority, around 54,000 people, retired on a full old-age pension.

Additionally, the number of new pensioners on a disability pension rose slightly after the first two years of the Covid pandemic, with new disability pensions granted to 18,000 people in 2022, a 2 per cent increase on 2021.

A record number of Finns took out a partial old-age pension in 2022, although they were not included in the figures of new pensioners.

“The number of persons taking out a partial old-age pension exploded last year,” said Kannisto.

“A total of 35,000 Finns took out this benefit due to the exceptional index development.

“This was 2.5 times the regular number of new pensioners on a partial old-age pension.”

The expected effective retirement age for 25-year-old men and women was 62.6 and 61.9, respectively.

ETK noted that, traditionally, the gender gap in effective retirement age had been narrow, but in the past few years it had widened to 0.7 years.

“Particularly at the onset of their working lives, women have a higher risk of disability than men, which lowers their average effective retirement age,” Kannisto noted.

Furthermore, the effective retirement age is slightly lower for women in the public sector compared to in the private sector.

By 2025, the expected effective retirement age is predicted to rise to at least 62.4 years.

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