Number of retirees on disability pension drops in 2020

The number of new retirees on disability pension took a turn down in 2020.

A total of 19,100 persons retired on earnings-related disability pension last year, posting a year-on-year decline of about 1,000 persons, said the Finnish Centre for Pensions in a press release.

The main cause for retirement on disability pension continued to be mental and behavioural disorders (33%)., Musculoskeletal disease (31%) was the second most common cause.

The number of new retirees declined in both the main disease groups in the same proportion. When viewed by age group, the decline is centred on the age groups of 45-59 and less than 25.

“How the corona pandemic affects retirement on disability pension is still uncertain. Let’s hope that the number of new retirees on this pension benefit continues to decline. It is also possible that avoiding care during the pandemic may lead to the number of new disability pension retirees to rise,” said Finnish Centre for Pensions Head of Statistics Tiina Palotie Heino.

The average age of the new retirees on disability pension was 52. A slight majority (53%) of the new retirees on this benefit were women.

Clearly the most common reason for women to retire on disability pension was mental disorders. For men, musculoskeletal disease was a slightly more common reason for retirement on disability pension.

Depression continued to be the main single cause for retirement on disability pension. In 2020, a total of 3,600 people retired on disability pension due to depression, which means 10 persons retired per day. The number decreased slightly from that in 2019.

“Fortunately, the number of granted disability pensions decreased slightly among both men and women,” said Palotie Heino.

Two out of three persons who retired on disability pension due to depression were women.

At the end of 2020, a total of 130,000 persons drew earnings-related disability pension. This was nearly 4,000 less than that in 2019.

In 2010, the number was an ample 200,000. Over a period of 10 years, the number of persons on disability pension has thus been reduced by more than one-third.

Most often, mental disorders (44%) underlie retirement on disability pension. The second most common cause is a musculoskeletal disease (24%).

People who retire due to mental disorders are usually younger than other retirees on disability pension, and they return to work less often than do those who suffer from diseases of other categories.

“On average, those who retire on disability pension due to mental disorders spend longer in retirement than those who have retired due to a musculoskeletal disease,” explained Palotie Heino.