Belarus is among the countries with the smallest net pension

Picodi.com analysts studied pension payments in 44 countries around the world. Belarus is in the top five outsiders.

The analysis took into account only the old-age labour pension paid from the state budget. Pensions around the world were compared after all mandatory taxes and deductions, i.e., the “net” amounts that people actually receive in their hands.

Belarusian pensioners can afford to buy much less food products compared to pensioners in most European countries. As the study showed, the largest pension amounts are received by residents of Norway, Switzerland and the United States, and the lowest amounts – by Ukraine, Moldova and Albania. Belarus is not far from the outsiders of this ranking.

According to the latest official data, more than 2.6 million people receive an old-age pension in Belarus, and the average pension payment amounts to BYN 514.41 or $183 (40th place in the ranking).

How many purchases can a pensioner in each country surveyed afford?

To answer, analysts studied what percentage of the official average pension payment is used to afford the basic food basket.

It turned out that Belarusian pensioners only have enough money for a little over one minimum food basket.

The minimum food basket is 76.7% of the average Belarusian retirement pension amount. The basket includes: bread, milk, yogurt, eggs, rice, cheese, meat, fish, fruits and vegetables. Their amounts are based on recommendations from WHO and local ministries of health on nutrition for the elderly.

At the same time, in Norway, the cost of the food basket is only 13.4% of the pension amount.