Pensions

Pensions in Bulgaria will be increased by 9.6-9.7% from July next year, as per the Ministry of Finance's latest estimates, which are in line with the Swiss indexation rule. Initially, experts had predicted a smaller increase of 8.7%. As a result, the minimum pension is expected to rise to approximately 636-637 leva.

The cumulative increase in pensions over the last three years will significantly exceed 13%, Deputy Labor and Social Security Minister Panos Tsakloglou said in an interview with the Athens-Macedonian News Agency on Sunday.

Nearly half of Bulgaria's pensioners are at risk of poverty and social exclusion, as highlighted in the European Commission's pension adequacy report. Data for 2022 reveals that 45.5% of individuals aged 65 and older in the country face this concerning situation.

People wait to cross a road near a construction site in Beijing on July 9, 2024.

China said Friday it would gradually raise its statutory retirement age, as the country grapples with a looming demographic crisis and an older population.

Hundreds of millions of people in China are set to enter old age in the coming decades while the birth rate dwindles dramatically.

German measures to incentivize workers to retire later come as governments across Europe are turning to pension reforms to address worker shortages and ease the burden on their pension systems.

Here is what other European countries are doing.

France

The reliance of Bulgaria's State Social Insurance (SSI) on the state budget is set to continue growing, according to an actuarial report by the National Social Security Institute (NSSI).

Pension increases, lump-sum financial aid, reductions in deductions, “corrections for injustices,” and other significant changes will be promoted starting from autumn, benefiting large groups of pensioners.

An increase of 5.3% was recorded in the average monthly income from new pensions in May compared to the same month last year, with the amount being 1,014 euros from €963.

According to the Helios report, which captures the monthly flow of new retirements, the increase comes mainly from main pensions.

The number of pensioners who have decided to continue working in Greece has increased fivefold under new and more favorable tax provisions, according to the Single Social Security Entity (EFKA).

Around 100,000 pensioners have declared on a special electronic platform of the Single Social Security Entity (EFKA) that they are working, Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Security Panos Tsakloglou, said in an interview on Saturday.