A review of YEL earned income for around 58,000 Finnish entrepreneurs saw their earned income increase for around half (49 per cent) of them, according to analysis by the Finnish Pension Alliance (Tela).

The review was undertaken in accordance with the legislative reform that entered into force in 2023 and applied to entrepreneurs with earned income exceeding €25,000, as well as those entrepreneurs whose YEL insurance had been in force for at least three years and whose earned income had not undergone significant changes during that time.

Analysis by Tela found that earned income increased for 49 per cent of the entrepreneurs reviewed, while for 48 per cent, earned income remained unchanged. For less than one per cent, it decreased.

For the remaining 2 per cent, Tela said the review was still ongoing at the time of data collection, or the insurance had ended during the process. Tela plans to publish the final statistics on the reviews later in 2026.

The earned income reviews are based on a legislative amendment that came into force at the beginning of 2023, obligating pension insurance providers to regularly review entrepreneurs’ earned income levels.

Earned income must correspond to the annual salary that would be paid for the same work to an equally skilled employee.

Earned income determines the entrepreneur’s pension contributions and affects not only old-age and disability pensions, but also benefits such as sickness allowance, parental allowance, unemployment security, and housing allowance.

Tela senior specialist, Janne Pelkonen, said: “The YEL income review rounds launched in 2023 have now covered entrepreneurs at all earned income levels. Earned income increased broadly among entrepreneurs, especially those with lower income levels and small business owners.

“The aim of current legislation is to continue improving entrepreneurs’ social security and pension coverage and to reduce underinsurance by ensuring that earned income better reflects the value of the entrepreneur’s work contribution,” he said.

At most, earned income can increase by €4,000 in a review, corresponding to an increase of about €85 per month in YEL contributions.

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