More than three quarters (76 per cent) of people who retired on an old-age pension in Finland in 2025 had accrued part of their pension while receiving social security benefits, according to figures from the Finnish Centre for Pensions (ETK).

Unemployment, family leave and sickness benefits are among the social security benefits from which pension can accrue, with unemployment accounting for the largest share.

Among those retiring in 2025, pension accrued while receiving social security benefits averaged €43 a month, while the amount accrued specifically during periods of unemployment averaged €30 a month.

A total of 52,178 people retired on an old-age pension during the year.

Of these, 42 per cent had accrued pension from unemployment benefits, 9 per cent from completing a degree and 60 per cent from other social security benefits.

ETK noted that pension accrued during periods of social security receipt was particularly important for those on lower incomes, accounting for 12 per cent of their total pension on average.

The figures also showed that almost half, 47 per cent, of those retiring on an old-age pension in 2025 did so directly from work, while around one-third transferred from a partial old-age pension and roughly one-fifth from a disability pension.

Among those retiring directly from work, 67 per cent had accrued pension while receiving social security benefits.

This included 38 per cent who had accrued pension from unemployment benefits, 9 per cent from completing a degree and 50 per cent from other benefits.

The average pension for those moving from a partial old-age pension to a full old-age pension was €2,234 a month, more than €200 higher than for those retiring directly from work.

ETK also highlighted the importance of the projected pension component for people moving from disability pension to old-age pension.

ETK statistics researcher, Jukka Lampi, said: “If a person’s working life ends because of disability before they reach their retirement age, a projected pension component is added to their earnings-related pension.

“This represents part of the pension that they would probably have accrued if they had continued working until their retirement age.”

Among those transferring from a full disability pension to an old-age pension in 2025, the projected pension component accounted for almost half of pensions accrued since 2004.

For those transferring from a partial disability pension, the corresponding share was 29 per cent.

For low-income retirees, the projected pension component accounted for around 15 per cent of their total pension.

Meanwhile, the average pension of those retiring after receiving additional days of unemployment benefits was €1,419 a month, notably lower than for those moving directly from work into retirement.

However, pension accrued during unemployment contributed significantly for this group, averaging €168 a month.

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