The number of pensioners who belong to the highest income category, i.e. they receive more than HUF 300,000 per month, doubled in two years, and almost sevenfold since 2015, Világgazdaság found in the data of the Central Statistics Office (KSH).

While in 2019 only 40,573 elderly people received a HUF 300,000 pension, last year it was already 81,769. In practice, a positive shift can be seen in the entire pension pool, i.e., the number of those receiving the smallest benefits has been decreasing for years, while those in the higher bands are increasing there are more. So, for example, while two years ago 1,510,000 people received less than the average pension, i.e. 140-150,000 forints less, last year only 1,347,000 people received it.

According to experts speaking to VG, there are several reasons for the shift.

The shift is partly due to the annual pension increase and related pension compensation, and partly due to the so-called staff turnover - emphasized Gábor Regős, head of the macro business of Századvég Konjunktúrakutató Zrt., when asked by VG. Zoltán Varga, Equilor's senior analyst, has a similar view, according to whom the visible shift in the payment ranges was caused by the combined effect of the retroactive pension adjustment in addition to the pension increase and the pension premium paid in November.

The pension increase could indeed move the bands, especially for those whose benefits were already higher last year. As Gábor Regős pointed out, in 2020, 24.6 thousand people had pensions in the range between 280 and 300 thousand forints.

Assuming a five percent increase in 2021, those whose pensions reached HUF 286,000 in 2020 have already moved into the range above HUF 300,000.

However, this cannot yet explain the entire increase. The staff turnover means that new, younger pensioners enter the system instead of the older, dying ones who leave the pension system. In their case, the career earnings - on the basis of which the pension is calculated - are higher than for those who retired earlier, so it is not surprising that more and more people fall into the HUF 300,000 and above category.

Source and full article: origo.hu

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