Nevertheless, it is worth taking a closer look at the figures.

"Pensioners are doing well financially". This is the conclusion reached by the Swedish Pension Administration (Pensionsmyndigheten) in a published report. This is because those who receive a pension in Sweden enjoy 82 per cent of the economic standard of the working population on average. However, there are exceptions.

While the average pensioner enjoy 82 per cent of the financial standard that workers aged 20 to 64 have, this changes with age. This is because income decreases with age. For single men over 80, the figure is 59 per cent, and for single women in this age group, it is then only 56 per cent of the aforementioned standard.

However, a very different picture emerges if we look at the cohabiting group: here, men and women aged 66 to 70 achieve a financial standard of 116 and 107 per cent, respectively, compared with the group of employed persons aged 20 to 64.

Average values distort the overall picture

The report focuses on mean values. Talking about the average, one is to be reminded that quite a number of people in Sweden have very high pensions and incomes, thus distorting the overall picture significantly. However, there are also many poor pensioners: people who have a very low pension despite a long working life. The latter is quite comparable to the situation in many other European countries.

The report is published at a time of increasing discussions, among others, about a reform of the financing of the old-age pension system in Sweden.

Click here for the study (in English).