The retirement age rises to 64.7 years. The income gap between men and women remains

The average retirement age in Italy in 2025 will grow to 64.7 years, compared to 64.5 in the previous year. In 2012 the figure stood at 61.7 years. The average gross monthly allowance amounts to 1.906 eurothe amount increases for early pensions to 2,162 euros per month, due to the greater average duration of the underlying careers. Disability pensions, on the other hand, earn an average of 1,130 euros, while old-age pensions earn 1,035 euros.

The 25th Annual Report Inps shows a substantially stable overall number of pensioners: 16.4 million. But the employed population in Italy is experiencing a higher age due to general aging and the flight of young talents abroad. Suffice it to say that between 2019 and 2025, young people aged between 18 and 34 have significantly increased in number of employees (850 thousand) but are experiencing a continuous reduction in the population of the same ages (-230 thousand). While senior workers aged 55 to 70 have increased significantly both as a reference population (+1.32 million) and as a corresponding number of employees (+1.16 million).

The gender gap in pensions

As of December 31, 2025, of the 16.4 million pensioners, approximately 8 million are male and 8.4 are female. And the gap between the incomes received by men and those of women stands at around 34%. The gross amount of pensions paid overall amounts to approximately 371 billion euros, up compared to 347 in 2023. Although they represent the majority share of the total pensioners (51%), women receive 44% of pension income, i.e. 163 billion euros compared to 207 billion for males. Compared to 2024, the average gross monthly amount of pension income increased by 1.3%.

The words of the INPS president

“Today’s pensions tell the story of yesterday’s careers. Tomorrow’s pensions will tell the story of today’s work”, observed the INPS president, Gabriele Favacommenting on the report. “For this reason”, he continued, “the pension gap between men and women cannot be read only as an effect of social security legislation. It arises earlier. It arises in more fragmented careers, in lower salaries, in often unchosen part-time jobs, in maternity, in family care, in less continuity of contributions. Sustainability is not just an accounting balance”, insists Fava, “it is a responsibility between generations. It means guaranteeing that those who are retired today receive what they are entitled to, but also that those who work today do not inherit a system unsustainable. The real way to defend pensions is not to separate them from the rest, it is to rebuild their link with work, with young people, with women, with businesses and with growth”.

Wages and purchasing power

On the wages front, the report explains, “nominal wages have grown but have lost purchasing power in real terms. Wage stagnation, a long-term structural phenomenon dating back to the 1980s, has been compounded by the inflationary phenomena of recent years”. To evaluate the real relevance of the wage dynamics, we read, “the crucial comparison is that with inflation”.

“The lasting recovery of purchasing power depends on productivity growth”, underlined the Minister of Labor and Social Policies, Marina Calderonewho spoke at the presentation. The average annual gross salary of employees reached 27,649 euros, with a growth of 14.5 percent compared to 2019 and 3.6 percent in the last year. A dynamic supported by greater continuity and intensity of work, which however has not yet entirely reabsorbed the inflation accumulated in the two-year period 2022-2023. “Productivity is built with investments”, stated Calderone, “with training, with the quality of the entrepreneurial fabric. It is on this ground that companies, social partners and institutions are called to a common commitment”.

The average age of the different types of pension

For old-age pensions, the INPS notes, the average age has been stable around 67 years since 2020, the figure in 2025 is 67.2 years. Early pensions, on the other hand, follow a more irregular dynamic: after the maximum observed in 2020, equal to 62.1 years, the average age stands at 61.7 years in 2025, being more affected by outgoing flexibility channels.

Pensioners who continue to work

And again: the age of the working population is changing. Habits also change at the end of the work experience. Retirement does not necessarily coincide with the definitive exit from employment: for some individuals, work after retirement may respond to economic needs, for others the desire to maintain an active role or to enhance professional skills accumulated over time. In fact, the number of retired workers is growing significantly, going from over 40 thousand units in 2019 to almost 158 ​​thousand in 2023. At the same time, the share of those who return to work in the same company in which they were employed before retirement remains high, albeit progressively decreasing, confirming the importance of continuity of relationships even after formal exit from the job market.

The debate on retirement age

The social security debate in recent years has often concerned the hypothesis of raising the retirement age given the increase in life expectancy. The adjustment to life expectancy, notes the INPS, represents a “relevant tool for the financial sustainability of the pension system in the long term”. Among employees and self-employed, the exit ages converge, but not the contributory careers, however they remain central: differences in life expectancy, unequal access to the early channel and persistence of gender contribution gaps can produce differentiated effects between groups of workers.

Employment and European comparison

Meanwhile, public and private employees total over 21 million, up by 2 million compared to 2019. Although at historic highs, INPS notes that the Italian employment rate is the lowest among the five EU countries with the most inhabitants: Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Poland.