The number of Swedish pensioners in absolute poverty is lower than in all other European Union countries, according to the Swedish Pensions Agency.

A new report by the agency also shows that the proportion of relatively poor pensioners in the country is as large as among the rest of the population in Sweden. Poverty is measured by absolute and relative poverty.

The proportion of absolutely poor people in the age group 65 years and up is 1.3 per cent in Sweden, which is the lowest in the EU. The proportion of relatively poor people in Sweden, however, is 13 per cent for those over 65 years, the same as in the age group 20–64 years.

“Pensioners in Sweden are generally not poor in a European comparison. But today's measures of poverty are blunt and do not reflect the pensioners' actual living conditions,” Swedish Pensions Agency head of analysis, Ole Settergren, said.

The relative poverty measure is most often used, but the agency’s report found that this measure can be misleading. For example, the proportion of relatively poor pensioners in Sweden would decrease if pensioners with low incomes moved to more expensive housing.

A more expensive home would give them the right to an increased housing supplement, which would take them over the limit of relative poverty. However, their overall financial situation would deteriorate, as housing benefit would not cover the entire increased cost of housing.

“It is worrying that today's relative measures of poverty do not always identify the groups with the most strained finances. It also limits how accurately one can design measures to reduce poverty,” Settergren said.

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