Pension system
The highest pensions are in North Rhine-Westphalia and Saarland
Despite demographic change, the pension contribution rate is largely stable. A new report from the German Pension Insurance sheds light on this and other data.
Men from North Rhine-Westphalia and Saarland receive the highest old-age pensions in a nationwide comparison. This emerges from the pension atlas of the German pension insurance. The average gross retirement pension for men with at least 35 years of insurance was around 1,923 euros in North Rhine-Westphalia in 2023 and around 1,920 euros in Saarland, more than 100 euros above the national average.
Women receive significantly less pension
Nationwide, the average pension after at least 35 years of insurance was 1,809 gross for men and 1,394 for women, a total of 1,623 euros. Saarland and North Rhine-Westphalia, including women’s pensions, lead the federal state rankings with an average pension of 1,741 and 1,708 euros.
According to the report, the reason for the relatively high pensions in North Rhine-Westphalia and Saarland is previously well-paid work in mining. The good wages from back then are reflected in pensions today. At the bottom of the ranking are the eastern German states of Saxony with an average of 1,529 euros, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania with 1,527, Saxony-Anhalt with 1,515 and Thuringia with 1,509.
Pension contribution rates have been largely stable for over 20 years
Despite the significant increase in the number of pensions paid, the contribution rate for pension insurance is lower today than it was before the turn of the millennium, according to the report. In 1997 it was 20.3 percent, today it is 18.6 percent.
In recent years, demographic change has been managed without adjusting the contribution rate. The reason for this is, among other things, the significant increase in employment among women and older people and immigration. In total, the German pension insurance paid out 25.9 million pensions last year.
About 7 percent of payments go abroad
6.6 percent of pension payments from the German pension insurance went abroad in the previous year. This corresponds to around 1.7 million pensions. Around 86 percent of all foreign pensions are received by foreign nationals who have acquired pension rights through their contributions to the German pension insurance. According to the report, the largest group among them are Italians: around 349,000 receive pensions from the German pension insurance.
Around 14 percent of foreign pensions are paid out to Germans who have their permanent residence or habitual residence abroad. Austria has the highest proportion here with around 29,000 pensions.
dpa
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
