In 2024, the average pension level disparity between women and men was 10% or less in the Czech Republic, Estonia, Iceland, Slovakia, and Slovenia.
This disparity exceeded 35% in Austria, Mexico, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, and surpassed 47% in Japan.
These discrepancies primarily result from “divergent career and salary trajectories between men and women,” as stated in the “Pensions at a Glance 2025” study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
However, the average difference in pensions awarded to men and women in OECD countries decreased from 28% in 2007 to 23% in 2024.
The most significant reductions occurred in Germany, Greece, and Slovenia, where this difference decreased by more than 15 percentage points between 2007 and 2024.
In Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal, and Turkey, the reduction surpassed 10 percentage points.
The OECD report estimates that gender disparities between men and women will be “practically” eliminated “by 2050 in Portugal and Slovenia” and will experience “a sharp reduction to 10% or less” in Belgium and Luxembourg, “despite significant gender disparities that still persist in part-time work in the four countries.”
“In many OECD countries, the strong reduction in labor market differences between men and women is driving this decrease in the average pension gap between them, but it takes time for these changes to be fully reflected in lower pension inequalities,” the document adds.
In Portugal, nearly 70% of women receive minimum pensions, similar to countries like Austria, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, and Sweden.
