Come siamo messi?

Eurostat · ESSPROS, Italy and EU-27

How much do pensions weigh?

In 2024 pension spending is 15.85% of GDP in Italy, against 12.57% in the EU-27 (provisional). In Italy that is €350.4bn.

Eurostat, European social protection statistics (ESSPROS, the system EU countries use to count pensions, healthcare and benefits in the same way). Italy’s data are transmitted by ISTAT. The same definition for Italy and the EU-27.

Question 1 of 4

Pension spending in Italy, 2024, as % of GDP15.85%In the EU-27, 12.57%, provisional. In euros, Italian spending is €350.4bn.

These are all the pensions counted by ESSPROS, paid by INPS and the other social security bodies, not only those that go through the State budget: the item «Politiche previdenziali» (pension policies) in the State budget is a different, smaller measure.

Pension spending as % of GDP, 2024

  1. Italy15.85%
  2. EU-2712.57%

Pension spending (% of GDP)

The bars start at zero, on the same scale for both rows. The striped EU-27 is the European value published by Eurostat, not the average of the countries.

Details, method and source

Eurostat, spr_exp_pens: pension expenditure, all benefits (spdepb=TOTAL) and all schemes (spdepm=TOTAL), as a percentage of GDP (PC_GDP) and in millions of euros (MIO_NAC, for Italy). The same definition applies to Italy and the EU-27; the year is the latest both have. GDP is that of the same year and country. Eurostat may still revise provisional data.

Eurostat, spr_exp_pens ↗ · ESSPROS methodology ↗

  1. Question 2 of 4

    How has this share changed?

    Pension spending in Italy, % of GDP, 1995 and 202413.37 → 15.85%In Italy the share goes from 13.37% of GDP in 1995 to 15.85% in 2024. The peak was in 2020: 17.57%. Since 2008, the first year with EU-27 data, Italy is above the EU-27 in all 17 years.

    A share of GDP rises when pensions grow, but also when GDP falls: on its own the ratio does not separate the two.

    Pension spending as % of GDP, Italy and EU-27

    The values, year by year

    Annual Eurostat data, with no estimates for missing years. The EU-27 series starts later: gaps are not zeros. The axis starts at zero; the chart does not explain why values changed.

    Details, method and source

    Eurostat, spr_exp_pens, spdepb=TOTAL and spdepm=TOTAL, PC_GDP: the same series as the first question, for every published year. The EU-27 shares are estimated or provisional in almost every year (the notes are in the table). The count of years with Italy above the EU-27 and the year with the highest share are the portal’s readings of the published series.

    Eurostat, spr_exp_pens ↗

  2. Question 3 of 4

    Which pensions make up the total?

    Total pension spending, 2024€350.4bnThe 6 available categories add up to the total. The sum and difference are portal calculations.

    Eurostat notes: provisional figure.

    Pension spending in Italy, 2024, billion euros

    1. Total pensions€350.367bn
    2. Old age€246.052bn
    3. Survivors€51.839bn
    4. Anticipated old-age pensions€37.027bn
    5. Disability€13.503bn
    6. Early retirement for labour-market reasons€1.504bn
    7. Early retirement for reduced work capacity€0.442bn
    8. Partial pensions

    Pension spending (billion euros)

    The first row shows the total; the rows below show its parts, on the same scale. Amounts are in current-year euros.

    Details, method and source

    Eurostat, spr_exp_pens: the total (TOTAL) and all seven ESSPROS pension categories, means testing TOTAL. MIO_NAC is millions of national currency: for Italy euros, with lira years converted at the fixed exchange rate. Categories partition spending, while beneficiary counts may overlap. The sum uses only published values; missing values remain n/a.

    Official source names: OLD: Old age pension; AOLD: Anticipated old age pension; PART: Partial pension; DIS: Disability pension; SRV: Survivors’ pension; ERRC: Early retirement benefit due to reduced capacity to work; ERLM: Early retirement benefit for labour market reasons.

    Data unavailable: Partial pensions.

    Eurostat, spr_exp_pens ↗

  3. Question 4 of 4

    How many pensioners and employed people?

    Pension beneficiaries in Italy per 100 employed people aged 15 to 64, 202468.3The ratio is 73.3 in France, 57.7 in Germany and 48.7 in Spain. A ratio calculated by the portal between two different counts: it does not say who funds pensions.

    Beneficiaries receive at least one pension on 31 December, including abroad: each person counts once. Employed people are aged 15 to 64, averaged across the four quarters. Someone who works and receives a pension can count in both groups; over-64s can count as beneficiaries, but not as employed here. We do not use the EU total: it can count people receiving pensions from two countries twice. Eurostat notes for 2024: employment: France and Spain, definition differs from the European one; beneficiaries: Germany, estimated figure.

    Pension beneficiaries per 100 employed people aged 15 to 64, 2024

    1. France73.3
    2. Italy68.3
    3. Germany57.7
    4. Spain48.7

    Beneficiaries per 100 employed people aged 15 to 64

    The bars start at zero, on the same scale for the four countries, from the highest ratio: first means highest, not best or worst. Beneficiaries and employed people are published by Eurostat; the ratio per 100 employed is a portal calculation.

    Details, method and source

    Portal calculation: pension beneficiaries (spr_pns_ben, spdepm=TOTAL, spscheme=TOTAL, spdepb=TOTAL, sex=T, unit=PER) divided by employed people (lfsi_emp_a, indic_em=EMP_LFS, sex=T, age=Y15-64, unit=THS_PER), per 100. Employment is published in thousands and the portal multiplies it by 1,000 before the ratio. The year is the latest one all four countries have for both series. The ratio compares two counts: it says neither how much each employed person pays nor how pensions are funded.

    Beneficiaries: Eurostat, spr_pns_ben ↗ · Employment: Eurostat, lfsi_emp_a ↗

More questions about pensions

Where does the money for social protection come from? 2024

2024, receipts of all social protectionHalf from contributions, half from everyone’s taxes€670.3bn in all. Shares of the total: portal calculation.

These are the receipts of all social protection (pensions, healthcare, family, unemployment…), not only of pensions: Eurostat does not split them by benefit, and the portal does not do it in its place.

  • Total receipts100% · €670.3bn
  • Social contributions47.6% · €319.3bn
  • Everyone’s taxes (general taxation)50.5% · €338.5bn
  • Other revenue1.9% · €12.6bn

Social protection receipts (% of the total)

Details, method and source

Eurostat, spr_rec_sumt, in millions of national currency: social protection receipts, total (TOTAL), social contributions (SCO), general government contributions from general taxation (GOV_GEN) and other receipts (REC_OTH). The shares of the total are a portal calculation.

Eurostat, spr_rec_sumt ↗

Continue: how much debt we have, who holds it, and how much it costs us each year →