Cyprus struggles to close wide gender gap in elderly pensions

Women in Cyprus receive 29 per cent lower pensions than men

Women aged 65 and over in Cyprus received pensions 29 per cent lower on average than men in 2024, according to Eurostat, placing the country above the EU-wide gender pension gap and highlighting persistent income inequalities in retirement.

Across the European Union in 2024, the average pension for women aged 65 or over was 24.5 per cent lower than that for men, according to the data.

In Cyprus, the corresponding average gender pension gap stood at 29 per cent, exceeding both the EU average and Greece, where the gap reached 23.8 per cent.

The largest average gaps in the bloc were recorded in Malta at 40.3 per cent, the Netherlands at 36.3 per cent and Austria at 35.6 per cent.

By contrast, the smallest average gaps were seen in Estonia at 5.6 per cent, followed by Slovakia at 8.4 per cent and Hungary at 9.6 per cent.

Beyond average figures, Eurostat also publishes the gender pension gap using median pension values, which represent the middle value separating the higher half of pensions from the lower half.

Unlike the average, the median is less sensitive to a small number of extremely high or low pension values.

Based on median calculations, the gender pension gap in the EU reached 24.9 per cent in 2024, slightly higher than the average-based figure.

In Cyprus, the median gender pension gap stood at 26.7 per cent, below the country’s average-based gap but still above the EU figure.

Within the euro area, the median gap was higher at 28.1 per cent. Greece recorded a median gap of 29.8 per cent.

The largest median pension gaps across the EU were recorded in Luxembourg at 43.3 per cent, Spain at 41.1 per cent and the Netherlands at 39.6 per cent.

The smallest median gaps were observed in Estonia at minus 0.3 per cent, Hungary at 0.4 per cent and Denmark at 2.7 per cent.

A comparison between average and median results shows strong divergences in several countries.

The largest difference was recorded in Denmark, where the gap in average pensions was 12.9 percentage points higher than the median gap.

Belgium followed with a difference of 11.0 percentage points and Hungary with 9.2 percentage points.

In some member states, the opposite pattern emerged, with the median pension gap exceeding the average gap.

This was particularly evident in Spain, where the median gap was 11.9 percentage points higher than the average gap.

Luxembourg recorded a difference of 10.6 percentage points in the same direction, while Portugal showed a gap of 6.5 percentage points.

The figures underline that Cyprus remains above the EU average in terms of the average gender pension gap, while its median gap, although lower than its average figure, still signals a substantial disparity between men and women in retirement income.

At EU level, the figures point to persistent structural inequalities in lifetime earnings and employment patterns, which continue to translate into significant differences in pension outcomes for older women.