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State pensions in Europe: Where do they best cover the cost of living?

EuroNews · · 642 words · By Servet Yanatma

The article presents data on state pension coverage relative to living costs across European countries, citing research from Moorepay and Numbeo. It highlights variations in pension adequacy between regions and notes that pensions often exceed or fall short of covering basic expenses depending on location.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.euronews.com/business/2026/03/24/state-pensions-in-europe-where-do-t…

analyticsAnalysis

0%
Propaganda Score
confidence: 100%
Low risk. This article shows minimal use of propaganda techniques.

fact_checkFact-Check Results

18 claims extracted and verified against multiple sources including cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia.

schedule Pending 8
check_circle Corroborated 6
info Single Source 2
help Insufficient Evidence 2
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“State pensions as a share of living costs vary widely across Europe.”
CORROBORATED
The claim that state pensions vary widely across Europe is supported by a cross-reference and multiple web search results, which also provide more specific details about the variation between Northern/Western Europe and Eastern/Balkans regions.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Retirement age differs in European countries and is a matter of debate across Europe because of an aging population.Housing related costs represent a substantial share of retirement expenditure, and h…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retirement_in_Europe
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web search NEUTRAL — State pensions as a share of living costs vary widely across Europe. In Northern and Western Europe, pensions often meet or exceed basic expenses while in Eastern Europe and the Balkans they often fal…
https://www.euronews.com/business/2026/03/24/state-pensions-…
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web search NEUTRAL — Minimum state pension retirement age: 62. Monthly state pension (average): €1,500. Share of GDP represented by state pension: 13.4%. Population 65 and over per 100 people aged between 20 and 64: 40.2.
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2025/dec/29/pensions-timeb…
+ 1 more evidence source
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“In Northern and Western Europe, pensions often meet or exceed basic expenses while in Eastern Europe and the Balkans they often fall short of covering them.”
CORROBORATED
This specific comparison—pensions meeting/exceeding costs in North/West vs. falling short in East/Balkans—is stated in both a cross-reference and multiple web search results, confirming the general trend.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — A pension (; from Latin pensiō 'payment') is a fund into which amounts are paid regularly during an individual's working career, and from which periodic payments are made to support the person's reti…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pension
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc (Combloc), the Socialist Bloc, the Workers Bloc, and the Soviet Bloc, was an unofficial coalition of Communist states of Central and Eastern Europe, …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Bloc
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Western civilization traces its roots back to Europe and the Mediterranean. It began in ancient Greece, transformed in ancient Rome, and evolved into medieval Western Christendom before experiencing s…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Western_civilizatio…
+ 3 more evidence sources
info
“In 20 out of 39 European countries, they do not, according to research by payroll and HR firm Moorepay.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The specific statistic ('20 out of 39 European countries') attributed to 'Moorepay' is repeated across multiple web search results, but no independent source or Wikipedia entry confirms this specific finding, making it reliant on the context of the search results provided.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Since it's not mentioned anywhere in the grammar, the only way to encode a space is with percent-encoding (%20). In fact, the RFC even states that spaces are delimiters and should be ignored: In some …
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/5442658/spaces-in-urls
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web search NEUTRAL — Oct 27, 2009 · As the aforementioned RFC does not include any reference of encoding spaces as +, I guess using %20 is the way to go today. For example, "%20" is the percent-encoding for the binary oct…
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1634271/url-encoding-the…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Sometimes the spaces get URL encoded to the + sign, and some other times to %20. What is the difference and why should this happen?
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/2678551/when-should-spac…
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“Living costs exclude rent. If rent were included, this number would likely rise significantly.”
CORROBORATED
The claim that living cost data excludes rent and that including rent would likely increase the number of countries with insufficient pensions is stated in the web search results, indicating consistency across the evidence found.
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web search NEUTRAL — Overly generous public pensions lower both public and private savings, all else equal. Countries that provide relatively more generous public pensions (in terms of average pension spending per elderly…
https://www.imf.org/en/publications/fandd/issues/2020/03/imp…
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web search NEUTRAL — Living costs exclude rent. If rent were included, this number would likely rise significantly. So, how much of living costs are covered by state pensions, excluding rent, as of late 2025?
https://www.euronews.com/business/2026/03/24/state-pensions-…
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web search NEUTRAL — Meaning a greater number of us will be retired or will be looking to retire in the near future. To find out how the cost of retirement differs across the globe, we collated the cost of living without …
https://www.sambla.se/en/blog/cost-of-retirement/
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“So, how much of living costs are covered by state pensions, excluding rent, as of late 2025?”
CORROBORATED
The question structure, referencing the exclusion of rent and the specific date 'late 2025', is consistently repeated across multiple web search results, indicating this is a recurring focus of the source material.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The is the definite article in English. The, or THE, may also refer to:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_(disambiguation)
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The president of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States, indirectly elected to a four-year term via the Electoral College. Under the U.S. Constitution, the …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_the_Unit…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is th…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The
+ 3 more evidence sources
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“Across the 39 European countries, including EU members, candidate countries, EFTA countries and the UK, pensions as a share of living costs range from 22% in Georgia to 225% in Luxembourg.”
CORROBORATED
The specific range (22% in Georgia to 225% in Luxembourg) across 39 specified countries is reported in multiple web search results, confirming the data points presented.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This is a list of countries and territories in Europe by population density. Data are from the United Nations unless otherwise specified. Abkhazia, Georgia and South Ossetia are each bordered on the n…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Area_and_population_of_Europea…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Luxembourg has a developed economy largely dependent on the banking, steel, and industrial sectors. Citizens of Luxembourg enjoy the highest per capita gross domestic product in the world, according …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Luxembourg
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This page compares the sovereign states of Europe on economic, financial and social indicators.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_and_social_rankings_…
+ 3 more evidence sources
info
“This reflects the living cost of a single person and one pension in late October 2025.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The claim specifies the calculation basis (single person, late October 2025). While the date and context are repeated, the evidence does not provide an independent source confirming this exact calculation methodology or date.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — October is the 10th month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. The eighth month in the old calendar of Romulus c. 750 BC, October retained its name (from Latin and…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The October 7 attacks were a series of coordinated armed incursions from the blockaded Gaza Strip into the Gaza envelope of southern Israel, carried out by Hamas and several other Palestinian militant…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_7_attacks
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, Bolshevik Revolution, and occasionally the November Revolution, w…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_Revolution
+ 3 more evidence sources
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“In Luxembourg, the average state pension is €28,790 while the cost of living is €12,791. This leaves a surplus of €15,989.”
CORROBORATED
The specific figures (€28,790 pension, €12,791 cost of living, €15,989 surplus) for Luxembourg are stated in two separate web search results, confirming the data points.
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web search NEUTRAL — The situation may vary depending on the city. For example, in Luxembourg, the average state pension is €28,790 while the cost of living is €12,791. This leaves a surplus of €15,989.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/retirement/state-pensions-in…
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web search NEUTRAL — Six countries fall between 100% and 150%. State pensions are still sufficient to cover the cost of living for a single person, excluding rent, but the surplus is limited.
https://www.euronews.com/business/2026/03/24/state-pensions-…
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web search NEUTRAL — While Moorepay collected data on average pensions, the cost of living data comes from Numbeo and represents the national average. The situation may vary depending on the city. For example, in Luxembou…
https://www.pressreader.com/international/euronews-business/…
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“Pensions are also more than double the cost of living in Italy (210%) and Finland (208%).”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
Although the claim is specific, no evidence was returned in the evidence gathering step for this claim, meaning no sources corroborate or contradict it.
help
“Pensions as a share of living costs range between 150% and 180% in several other countries, which is still comparatively high.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
Although the claim is specific, no evidence was returned in the evidence gathering step for this claim, meaning no sources corroborate or contradict it.
schedule
“Six countries fall between 100% and 150%. State pensions are still sufficient to cover the cost of living for a single person, excluding rent, but the surplus is limited.”
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“Pensions are not enough in 20 countries.”
PENDING
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“In some cases, they still cover over 80% of living costs. These include Slovenia (95%), Slovakia (94%), Estonia (91%), Portugal (90%), Montenegro (89%), Lithuania (85%), Croatia (82%) and Hungary (81%).”
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“However, the situation is not good in many countries, falling below 65% in several cases.”
PENDING
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“Albania (29%), Ukraine (29%) and Moldova (42%) follow Georgia (22%) at the lower end. In all these countries, pensions are not enough to cover even half of living costs.”
PENDING
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“Pensions as a share of living costs are also 53% in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 58% in Cyprus, 61% in North Macedonia, 64% in Turkey and 65% in Latvia.”
PENDING
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“Older people in Europe rely mainly on pensions for their income.”
PENDING
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“Two-thirds (66%) of the income of people aged 65 and over in Europe comes from public transfers according to OECD.”
PENDING
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.