Lisbon, Dec. 12, 2025 (Lusa) - Half of old-age pensioners in Portugal received a monthly pension of less than €462 in 2024, despite the average being €645, according to data analysed by economists at the Bank of Portugal, who also point out the differences between genders.
According to the analysis of social security microdata for 2024 carried out by central bank economists, there is "high dispersion", with half of old-age pensioners in the general scheme receiving less than €462 and 5% receiving more than €1,685.
"The proximity between the average pension and the 75th percentile reveals that most pensioners receive amounts significantly below the average, reflecting an asymmetrical distribution concentrated at low levels," notes the text prepared by Cláudia Braz, Sharmin Sazedj and Lara Wemans, which will appear in this month's Economic Bulletin.
The analysis also focused on gender differences, pointing out that there is less variability among women, who, on average, receive lower pensions.
In total, there were 2.5 million old-age pensioners in the public schemes, of whom two million belong to the social security system and 440,000 to the Caixa Geral de Aposentações (CGA - the public entity in Portugal responsible for managing the social security scheme for civil servants and equivalent workers hired until 2005, providing retirement, old-age and survivor pensions).
In 2024, the average age of pensioners was 75 years, with women being 15 months older than men, ‘reflecting a higher average life expectancy’.
In 2024, the average old-age pension for women was €490, compared to €812 for men. The difference, of around 40%, falls to 28% when the sum of old-age and survivor's pensions is considered (a survivor's pension is a monthly amount paid by Social Security to the family members of a deceased person who contributed to the system, replacing part of the lost income, with figures varying (e.g. spouse receives 60% of the deceased's pension, or more if there are other dependents).
Broken down by age group, the lowest average pensions occur in the older age groups, with pensioners under 65 having an average pension of around €770, falling to €537 for pensioners over 80.
"This profile is likely to be associated with the increase in the length of contributory careers and the declared income of new pensioners," the bulletin notes.
The data also show that in 2024, among all old-age pensioners, 40% - or 804,000 people - were receiving the minimum pension, an indicator calculated on the basis of the number of years of contributions.
The analysis also points out that the gender gap has gradually narrowed in recent years, although there is still a difference between men and women, not only due to the narrowing of wage differences, but also due to the increase in female participation in the labour market and the increase in contributory careers, according to the authors.
JO/AYLS // AYLS
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