One in ten South Koreans aged 65 and older do not receive any pension, and the average monthly benefit for pension recipients is 737,000 won, which is below the minimum living cost. Notably, the gap in pension amounts between men and women exceeds 400,000 won, highlighting ongoing disparities in retirement income based on gender.
According to the '2024 Pension Statistics' released by the National Data Agency on August 25, 2026, among the 10 million people aged 65 and older last year, 9,122,000 received at least one type of pension, an increase of 5.6% (486,000 people) from the previous year. The pension coverage rate rose to 91.2%, up 0.3 percentage points from the year before.
Conversely, 878,000 individuals aged 65 and older, or 8.8% of the total, did not receive any pension. This means that approximately nine out of every 100 seniors receive no pension, including the Basic Pension and National Pension.
The pension statistics compile data from 11 types of public and private pensions, including the Basic Pension, National Pension, occupational pensions, retirement pensions, individual pensions, and housing pensions, linked with population and household registration statistics.
The actual amount received by pensioners was lower than the coverage rate might suggest. Last year, the average monthly pension amount was 737,000 won, a 6.0% (42,000 won) increase from the previous year. However, the median amount was 497,000 won, which is 240,000 won less than the average. This indicates that half of the pension recipients received 497,000 won or less per month.
In terms of pension amount ranges, 46.7% received between 250,000 and 500,000 won, while 33.8% received between 500,000 and 1 million won, and 9.5% received between 1 million and 2 million won. Those receiving over 2 million won accounted for 6.3%, while 3.6% received less than 250,000 won.
The Data Agency noted that while pension amounts are steadily increasing, disparities among different groups are unlikely to be resolved in the short term. Song Joo-hwa, head of the Administrative Statistics Division at the Data Agency, stated, "Pensions are the result of 30 to 40 years of preparation during one's younger years, so it will be difficult to resolve these issues in the near future."
By type of pension, 6,756,000 people received the Basic Pension, accounting for 67.6% of the population aged 65 and older, while 5,211,000 received the National Pension, representing 52.1%. Since one person can receive multiple pensions, the coverage rates for each type are counted cumulatively. The average monthly amount for the Basic Pension was 300,000 won, while for the National Pension, it was 491,000 won.
There were 3,926,000 individuals receiving two or more pensions, making up 39.3% of the population aged 65 and older. Among pension recipients, 43.0% received two or more pensions, with 36.5% receiving both the Basic Pension and the National Pension.
Gender disparities were also evident. There were 4,231,000 male pension recipients, with a coverage rate of 95.5%, while female recipients numbered 4,891,000, with a coverage rate of only 87.8%. The average monthly benefit for men was 957,000 won, compared to 546,000 won for women, resulting in a difference of 411,000 won. Women's benefits were only 57% of men's.
Song noted, "The differences are the result of varying participation in the labor market and income levels during the years of 18 to 59, leading to differences in insurance enrollment periods and premiums accumulated over decades. Men have generally participated more in economic activities, resulting in a higher National Pension coverage rate, while women tend to have a relatively higher Basic Pension coverage rate."
Differences in pension amounts were also observed based on the length of enrollment. Among National Pension recipients, 2,645,000 had enrollment periods of 10 to 20 years, accounting for 50.8% of the total. The average enrollment period for National Pension recipients was 14.2 years, with longer enrollment periods correlating with higher average monthly benefits.
By age, there were 2,225,000 recipients aged 80 and older, with the highest coverage rate at 92.8%. However, the highest average monthly benefit was for those aged 65 to 69, at 858,000 won. As age increases, the coverage rate tends to rise, while the benefit amount tends to decrease.
In terms of households, there were 6,831,000 households with at least one pension recipient, a 4.9% increase from the previous year. Among households that included individuals aged 65 and older, the proportion of pension-receiving households was 95.9%. The average monthly pension amount for these households was 959,000 won, a 6.7% increase from the previous year, with a median amount of 670,000 won. Two-person households received an average of 1,131,000 won, while one-person households received 1,321,000 won.
Notably, the pension enrollment rate for registered workers was 95.2%, while it was only 52.5% for unregistered workers. This disparity in pension enrollment based on current economic activity could lead to future income gaps in retirement. Song remarked, "While the number of recipients and the coverage rate are steadily increasing, indicating that pensions are becoming more universal and diversified, disparities among groups still exist."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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