The number of pensioners in Russia has increased for the first time in six years

As of January 1, 2025, the number of pensioners registered with the Social Fund of RUSSIA (SFR) was 41.17 million people, having increased by 94 thousand people, or 0.2%, over the year. This follows from SFR data, which RBC has reviewed. They do not include pensioners in new regions of Russia, as well as pension recipients in the system of the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Investigative Committee and other security and law enforcement agencies.

The number of pensioners showed positive dynamics for the first time since 2018, when it grew by 361 thousand people. Subsequently, their number decreased annually, both as a result of the gradual increase in the retirement age during the pension reform (which began in 2019) and as a result of a temporary excess of mortality over the norm against the backdrop of the covid-19 pandemic . In 2023, the number of pensioners decreased by 700 thousand people, RBK wrote. According to the pension reform schedule, there were no retirements this year.

RBC sent a request to the Ministry of Labor.

In terms of working/non-working pensioners, the main increase in numbers occurred in the category of officially working pensioners: in 2024, their number increased by 343 thousand people - 8.2 million (and by 373 thousand more in the fourth quarter). The number of non-working pensioners at the end of 2024, on the contrary, decreased - by 248 thousand people, to 32.96 million.

The number of pensioners receiving old-age insurance pensions in 2024 remained virtually unchanged (decreased by 0.3 thousand people) and amounted to 33.38 million as of January 1, 2025. 3.47 million people receive social pensions, and 2.22 million receive disability pensions.

The last time an increase in the number of officially employed pensioners was recorded was in 2015, when it grew by a similar amount (342 thousand). However, their number subsequently went down: in 2016 alone, by 5.38 million compared to 2015. This coincided with the abolition of indexation of pensions for working pensioners, which came into force in 2016. In subsequent years, the decrease fluctuated in the range from minus 430 thousand to minus 210 thousand people (except for 2018, when the reduction was only 2 thousand).

In 2024, the decision to cancel the indexation of pensions for working pensioners was abolished - President Vladimir Putin signed a law resuming this process from 2025. As a result, from January 1, 2025, an increase in payments occurred for all pension recipients, regardless of whether they have paid work. Initially, it was assumed that the indexation amount would be 7.3%, but later Putin proposed indexing payments by 9.5% - according to the actual inflation of 2024.

The authorities also disclosed the average size of payments for various categories of pensioners for 2024. Pensions for working people grew more actively than pensions for non-working people: if the average size of payments for employed pensioners increased by 22% over the year, to 20.83 thousand rubles, then for non-working pensioners - by 10%, to 23.75 thousand rubles. Naturally, the difference in the average size of payments also decreased: if in 2023 it was 4.5 thousand rubles, then by the end of 2024 - 2.9 thousand rubles.

The following changes have occurred in relation to various types of pension provision:

• the average size of the old-age insurance pension increased by 12%, to 24.98 thousand rubles;
• the size of the survivor's pension - by 12%, up to 16.79 thousand rubles;
• the size of the disability pension - by 14%, up to 15.48 thousand rubles;
• the size of social pensions - by 8%, up to 13.52 thousand rubles.

For all categories of pensioners, the average pension in 2024 increased by 11.5%, to 23.18 thousand rubles, according to data from the Financial Markets Service. Inflation in 2024 was 9.5%.

The main factor in the increase in the number of pensioners in 2024 is the formula for increasing the retirement age, which is carried out in a "ladder", says demographer Igor Efremov. Because of this, by 2024, a large number of Russians have accumulated who did not have time to retire by age before the previous "step" of increasing the retirement age.

Professor of the Financial University under the Government Alexander Safonov agrees with him: he recalled that in 2023, due to the pension reform schedule, payments were not assigned, while in 2024, women born in 1966 and men born in 1961 were able to apply for an old-age insurance pension, which resulted in an increase in the total number of pensioners. In 2025, there will be another "break" in retirement, and we can expect that the number of pensioners will decrease again, Safonov believes.

In addition, the positive dynamics of the total number of pensioners in 2024 is partly due to a decrease in mortality among older ages relative to the extremely high pandemic levels, Safonov points out. "The total number of elderly citizens is increasing, and taking this into account, the number of pensioners is also growing," says Vladimir Smirnov, Acting DIRECTOR General of the Federal State Budgetary Institution "All-Russian Research Institute of Labor" of the Ministry of Labor of Russia.

Speaking about the growth in the number of working pensioners, Safonov called it understandable. "On the one hand, due to high inflation, one pension is not enough for the elderly. On the other hand, due to the shortage of personnel on the labor market, more and more offers for older people are appearing. This is especially relevant for the budget sector - HEALTH care and education," he explains.

Retiring workers are indeed in demand in the modern labor market. Especially when it comes to qualified and highly qualified specialists, Smirnov confirms. In 2024, employers began to call people over 40 years old for vacancies twice as often , hh.ru reported.

At the same time, the decision to resume indexation of pensions for working pensioners most likely had a limited impact on the dynamics of their numbers, Safonov believes. Since the law on this was signed in July, and the labor activity of pensioners is subject to seasonality (with a decrease in the summer), it could have had an effect only for four months of the year, namely from September to December, he explains. But in September, a decrease in the number of working pensioners was recorded compared to August, the expert notes.

The decision to resume indexation affected the dynamics of the number of working pensioners, Smirnov objects. "Some of the citizens retiring decided to continue working, some of the citizens who continued to work in private services after retirement returned to official employment," he notes.

Despite the resumption of indexation for working pensioners, the strategy for pensioners that experts previously discussed still makes sense: quit your job by agreement with your employer, get your pension recalculated taking into account all missed indexations, and then get employed again. Without this, the pension for those who are employed is indexed relative to the base taking into account all missed indexations, but it itself is paid based on the previous amount (before the recalculation).