Key figures & annual overview of the 2024 pension gap now available

As last year, we have summarised these figures for you in a clear and concise visual overview, the "Annual Pension Gap Overvieway11.link.new_window". 

In 2024, 114,862 people received their retirement pension for the first time, without combining it with a survivor’s pension and/or a divorce pension. The new group of recent retirees consists of 56% men and 44% women.

Among the recently retired in 2024, the differences between women and men remain striking:

1. The total pension (the combination of statutory and supplementary pensions) of women is on average 21% lower than that of men. Although this gap has remained stable since 2022, it is smaller than in 2019, when the difference was 24%. This difference is mainly influenced by the number of years worked in full‑time equivalents (FTE). When career length is the same, the gap narrows — especially when the number of worked years is higher.

2. The statutory retirement pension of women is on average 18% lower than that of men. In concrete terms, women receive €403 less statutory pension per month than men. Almost one in ten men (7%) who recently retired receives a statutory pension of less than €1,000, compared with one in five women (17%). Women also receive the minimum pension more often: one third of them, compared with one quarter of men. Still, the statutory pension gap has decreased from 20% to 18% since 2021.

3. The pension gap is even larger for supplementary pensions: upon retirement, men receive on average a supplementary capital that is twice as high as that of women. Moreover, women can rely on a supplementary pension less often than men. Only 51% of recently retired women received a supplementary pension, compared with 69% of men. Between 2021 and 2024, the supplementary pension gap increased further from 50% to 53% (black line). This gap is particularly large among married retirees (60%), while it is almost non‑existent among unmarried retirees (10%).