The Swedish Pensions Agency (SPA) has said that it believes there are good reasons for the government to appoint an inquiry to evaluate the public pension system in Sweden and make suggestions for improvements.

It stated that the various parts of the public pension system have changed and increased in number in recent years, which has resulted in contradictions and the system not always reaching the desired groups of people.

The SPA therefore urged the government to consider launching an inquiry into how the system can be improved.

Its report, A new pension system?, assessed the current system’s development and presented alternatives.

“The aim is to contribute with the basis for a discussion about the choice of path,” explained SPA head of analysis, Ole Settergren.

“There are good reasons for evaluating today's pension system in a public investigation.”

In the report, the SPA noted that people’s income during their working life determines the size of their pension to a lesser extent than initially thought.

Looking at the general pension as whole, the report said that there were large groups of society that were covered by a system that resembles a national pension system, rather than a system based on earnings.

“A basic principle when the pension system was created was that lifetime income should control the size of the pension,” commented Settergren.

“But the changes introduced in recent years have led to Sweden in practice having a pension system which for a large group provides a similar income from the general pension system regardless of lifetime income.

“In 2020, just over three out of 10 pensioners had some tax-financed pension benefit. Now this proportion is seven out of 10 pensioners.

“Since theory and practice now differ so significantly, there is reason to investigate the pension system.”

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