Old Age Pension and Disability Pension

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Labour and Income, Social Statistics
Morten Steenbjerg Kristensen
+45 3917 3267

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Old Age Pension and Disability Pension 2023 Month 01

The purpose of the statistic Old age and disability pension is to measure the number of recipients of old age pension or disability pension and the average benefit. The statistic includes recipients living abroad. The statistic is consistent from 2009 and onwards. However from 2021 it is available for all months.

Statistical presentation

The statistic annually describes the number of recipients of old age pension, senior pension or disability pension, recipients share of the identical population group as well as the average benefit. Old age pension and disability pension are shown separately and are broken down into sex, age, type of benefits, family type and geography.

Statistical processing

The statistics are based on complete administrative registers. Data are checked for consistency and at aggregate level compared to data from previous years. No corrections of data have been necessary in recent years

Relevance

The main users are municipalities, ministries and organisations such as Ældre Sagen and ATP. The statistic contains information on the financial living condition of pensioners. Also, data provide the opportunity to estimate the financial effect of changes in legislation.

Accuracy and reliability

All recipients of old-age pension and disability pension under the legislation covered, both residents in Denmark and abroad based on Udbetaling Danmarks register. There may be errors and duplicates in the registry that are removed, but it affects less than 0.01 per cent. of the persons to whom money is paid.

Timeliness and punctuality

The statistics are published in April. Henceforth the aim is to publish in March. The statistics have always been published as planned.

Comparability

Changes in legislation including changes in the retirement age from 2004 to 2007 and again from 2019 to 2022 affect the number of pensioners. From 1993 to 1994 the old age pension became taxable and increased significantly. A high degree of consistency with similar figures based on the income register or similar statistics in other Nordic countries is expected.

Accessibility and clarity

These statistics are published annually in a Danish press release, at the same time as the tables are updated in the StatBank. In the StatBank, these statistics can be found under the subject Recipients of old age and early retirement pension. These statistics also features in the Statistical Yearbook. For further information, go to the subject page.