Reduction of early pensions in 2025: detailed analysis of Inps benefits

Of these, 79.2% (16,840,238) are of a social security nature and 20.8% (4,417,761) of a welfare nature.

It is worth noting that between 2012 and 2026 the share of welfare benefits in total pensions increased by about 4 percentage points, from 17% to 20.8%, while the corresponding share of total expenditure showed a smaller growth of about one percentage point (from 7.3% to 8.2%).

The average age of pensioners is 74.3 years, with a difference between the two genders of 4.4 years (71.9 for men and 76.3 for women).

A strong gender gap emerges when looking at amounts, with the strong concentration of pensions in the lowest bracket (less than EUR 750 monthly) affecting 36% of men and 54% of women.

Approximately 9.7 million pensions fall into this bracket, but only 42.2% are associated with benefits linked to low income requirements (minimum wage supplementation, social increases, social pensions or allowances).

This concentration in the lowest amount classes is not necessarily a direct measure of the economic status of pensioners, as they may receive more pension benefits or have additional sources of income.

As far as men's old age pensions are concerned, almost half (48.2%) are concentrated in the range between EUR 1,500 and EUR 3,000 per month, with a higher average distribution of amounts than for women.

Considering only old-age pensions, among men the share of amounts below €750 is further reduced to 14% and, among these, only 18.7% are pensions qualifying for income support.

The total annual amount as of 1 January 2026 amounts to EUR 353.5 billion, of which EUR 325 billion is provided by social security schemes and EUR 28.5 billion by welfare schemes.

In 2025, the total annual amount stood at EUR 345.5 billion, of which EUR 318.5 billion related to social security benefits and EUR 27 billion to welfare benefits.

Employee schemes account for the largest share, with 53.8% of the total pensions and 71.4% of the amounts paid out.

In this area, the Pension Fund Employees concentrates 36.7 per cent of the benefits, while the Public Employees Management accounts for 14.9 per cent.

Self-employed schemes provide 23.9% of pensions, corresponding to 18.0% of total expenditure, while welfare benefits account for 20.8% of total benefits and 8.1% of expenditure.

In terms of categories, old-age pensions prevailed (70.7%, of which 54.8% were paid to men), followed by survivors' pensions (24.5%, with 13.6% paid to men) and social security disability pensions (4.9%, with 59.1% paid to men).

Welfare-type benefits consist mainly of civil invalidity benefits (79.3%, with 42.3% going to men), while the remaining 20.7% are social pensions and allowances (38.2% to men).

From a territorial point of view, 46.6% of pensions are paid out in Northern Italy, 31.8% in South and Islands and 19.7% in Centre, while 1.8% are for residents abroad.

In terms of amounts, the territorial distribution of residents in Italia is 51.6% in the North, 27.6% in the South and Islands, and 20.8% in the Centre.