PENSIONS 2024: What is the lowest pension in Romania? Our country, the lowest life expectancy in the European Union

Romanians who go to work after 35 can enjoy a pension for approximately 11 years and 6 months, the life expectancy in Romania being the lowest, i.e. 76.6 years, according to Eurostat data.

Eurostat data show that Romania ranks first in terms of the lowest life expectancy in the European Union. In second place is Latvia with 75.9 years, followed by Bulgaria with 75.8 years.

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The highest life expectancy is in Spain at 84 years, which is above the EU average of 81.5 years

The lowest pension in Romania in 2024

In Romania, there is no way to collect a pension without having worked. All retirees who have worked for less than 15 years receive social allowance. The full contribution period is 35 years.

Currently, the guaranteed minimum social pension is 1,281 lei. Those who, however, according to the calculations, should receive less than this amount, will still receive 1,281 lei, the difference being borne by the Romanian state.

The social allowance increased from 1,000 lei in 2022 to 1,125 lei in 2023 and to 1,281 lei in 2024.

So, 1,280 lei is the lowest pension in Romania, as of January, and the highest is 105,000 lei.

Read also: PENSIONS 2024: What penalties apply from September 1 for early retirement. Official explanations

However, in order to receive the social allowance for pensioners, a person must meet several conditions:

to have the status of pensioner of the public pension system, regardless of the date of registration for the pension;
to be domiciled in Romania;
the level of the amount of the pension, due or in payment, to be below 1,281 lei.

How Romanians manage with the minimum pension

According to the National Institute of Statistics, in the middle of 2023, there were approximately 4,900,000 pensioners in our country. Almost 1,200,000 of them received the minimum monthly pension

The money goes towards food, bills and medicine in most cases.

“Apart from medicine, I pay my contributions, state bills, taxes. I only have 100 lei per month left for food from the entire pension. And the girls bring me food, sometimes one, sometimes another. 40% would be a benefit for us. Inflation is too high and we could also buy something else, a piece of fruit, to do one more shopping without calling on the children,” said Ileana Bărbulescu, who was a hairdresser for 41 years, according to euronews.ro

“We take a loaf of bread each and think that we don’t really eat bread like that. Meat, not so much. Once a week, like eating once, if we eat, and a piece of meat. The rest, potatoes, are also expensive, three lei, four lei. If they increased your pensions by 40%, what would it mean for you? Eh, it would be kinder, but I don’t think so”, says Lucica Veninatu, retired, after 26 years in clothing