Over 1.7 million pensions are paid abroad

Berlin – More and more people are receiving pensions abroad because they previously worked in Germany. The German Pension Insurance paid a good 1.7 million pensions abroad in 2024. This is according to pension insurance figures reported by the "Tagesspiegel" (Monday edition). Twenty years ago, the number of pensions paid abroad was around 1.4 million. Since then, there has been an increase of around 23 percent. As a result, around 6.5 percent of all pension payments are now paid abroad. "European law and the social security agreements concluded with many countries ensure that people do not suffer any disadvantages in their pensions if they live and work abroad," said Hans-Werner Veen, Chairman of the Board of the German Federal Pension Insurance, at the meeting of the Representative Assembly in Münster. The increase is therefore largely due to the immigration of workers, primarily from Italy, Spain, Greece, the former Yugoslavia, and Turkey. They came to Germany in the 1960s and 1970s, worked here, and contributed to the pension fund. Many of these people have now returned to their homeland in retirement and are having the pensions they earned in Germany transferred there. Of the 1.7 million or so foreign pensions, around 1.23 million go to countries within the European Union. Italy leads the way, followed by Spain and Austria. Among countries outside Europe, the USA leads the way. Around 86 percent of all foreign pensions go to foreign nationals, around 14 percent to Germans living abroad as retirees. Austria leads the way here, followed by Switzerland and Spain.