As an austerity measure by the FPÖ and ÖVP, a drastic step that could affect seven million people is now being circulated: a suspension of pension account increases. The “Krone” explains what this means and why working people would lose tens of thousands of euros in their later retirement.
Erik Türk, pension expert at the Chamber of Labor, describes the possible plans to suspend the increase in the pension account as ‘insane’: ‘Something like that would lead to enormous uncertainty among people in a system that is built on reliability, clarity and transparency. ”
1.78 percent of the gross salary goes to the pension account
In concrete terms, it means this: All employees have a pension account (accessible online at Neuespensionskonto.at), to which a certain percentage – specifically 1.78 percent of their gross salary – is credited every year. All previous credits result in the so-called ‘total credit’, which is then equal to the annual gross pension when you retire.
During your working life, the total credit is always increased at the beginning of the year – to put it simply, as an inflation adjustment. On January 1, 2025, the appreciation of retirement accounts was a high 6.3 percent. As a result, the pension rights of working people in Austria have increased significantly (see graph). Example: 50-year-old men typically have a total credit of 21,804 euros, so the 6.3 percent increase meant an increase of 1,374 euros. Women aged 50 have an average of 13,838 euros, which was increased by 872 euros at the beginning of 2025. Every employee can view the individual valuation online on his pension account.
AK expert Türk now fears that the FPÖ and ÖVP will reverse this increase, which every employee already sees on their pension account. Türk: “This is the only way the pension account savings can be reflected in this year’s budget.”
Losses of up to almost 35,000 euros
The consequences would be devastating for all employees. Example: 60-year-old men received an average of 2,011 euros plus at the beginning of 2025. If you retire at age 65 and have a statistical life expectancy of another 17 years for men, this amounts to a total gross pension loss of 34,187 euros.
Although 60-year-old women have an average of only 1,127 euros in their retirement account, they are currently retiring earlier and have a longer life expectancy. For example, a woman who retires at age 62 still has a statistical life expectancy of 23.5 years. Multiply the 1127 euros and the total loss is 26,485 euros.
For younger people, the loss later would be even greater because they would also “fall” for the future percentage appreciation of the 2025 appreciation if it is canceled.
More than seven million people would be affected
In any case, millions would be affected: according to information from the pension insurer, 7,097,209 people had an active pension account on September 30 of the previous year. It is of course still unclear whether it would be legally possible to retroactively undo the increase in the total number of credits that has already taken place as of January 1, 2025.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
