In 2023, 223,834 pensions were paid out, worth €6.39bn. Over the year, the National Pension Insurance Fund (Caisse nationale d’assurance pension, or CNAP) processed 21,954 new pension claims and responded to 14,902 requests for information. This large number reflects the sensitivity of the issue among the general public.
The cnap.lu website records 1,947 visits per day, or 710,598 per year. This is more than the working population, which, according to Luxembourg’s statistics bureau Statec, was 303,100 at the end of 2023. That compares with a total population of 660,800, again according to Statec. Another figure reflecting the sensitivity of the subject is the number of requests for retroactive purchases. In 2023, the CNAP received 982 requests and accepted 714 for a total amount of €14.4m.
At the end of 2023, 220,512 people were receiving subsidies from CNAP. These included 156,401 old-age/early-age pensions, 17,454 invalidity pensions and 46,282 survivors’ and orphans’ pensions. It should be noted that a disability pension is automatically converted into an old-age pension as soon as the insured person reaches the age of 65. In 2023, the average age of an invalidity pensioner was 54.8 at the time the pension was granted.
Boom in mixed careers
In operational terms, the management of mixed careers--increasingly common given the highly international structure of the Luxembourg workforce--complicates the CNAP’s work. 59.9% of pensioners have had a mixed career; this figure stood at 33% in 2000.
In 2023, Luxembourg pensions were being paid in 116 countries. In 2023, 108,177 pensions were paid in Luxembourg and 111,960 abroad. “The total number of pensions paid increased by 31.53% between 2015 and 2023. For the same period, the number of pensions transferred abroad increased by 44.72%,” explains the CNAP. €4.366bn were paid in Luxembourg and €2.023bn abroad, or 31.67% of payments. In 2005, this proportion was 18.16%.
France had the highest transfer rate (17.91%), followed by Germany (11.39%) and Belgium (9.53%). Portugal comes fourth with 4.37%, followed by Italy (3.70%).
Reserves at their lowest level since 2013
In 2023, total reserves increased by €2.85bn to reach €27.39bn at the end of the year. This performance was driven in part by “a solid recovery in the financial markets, even if these seem to be defying the geopolitical uncertainties that persist.” This amount represents just 4.25 times annual benefits, “the lowest level since 2013,” says the annual report.
The pure apportionment premium, another important indicator of the financial equilibrium of the general pension scheme and representing the ratio between current expenditure and the contribution base, “resumed its upward trajectory to reach 22.33%, while remaining below the overall contribution rate of 24.” The load factor, representing the average number of pension recipients compared with the average number of contributors, stands at 43.3%, “continuing its upward trajectory.”
The general pension scheme covers the private sector and concerns 93% of the working population.
This article was originally published in .