The number of pensioners in Azerbaijan is decreasing, there are proposals to change the legislation…

Over the past year, the number of pensioners in Azerbaijan has decreased by 18 thousand 200 people, and in five years - by 222 thousand 400 people. According to the State Statistics Committee, if at the beginning of 2023 their number was 1 million 114 thousand 200, then for the corresponding period of this year it fell to 1 million 96 thousand. 64 percent of them receive an old-age pension.

In 2017, the retirement age was raised in Azerbaijan. According to changes in legislation, the age limit for men aged 63 was increased from January 1, 2017 to 65 years by January 1, 2021. And for women, 60 years will be brought up to 65 years, increasing by six months each year until January 1, 2027.

Although in recent years it has been repeatedly proposed to lower the retirement age in the country, there are no changes in this direction. But not all pensioners receive an old-age pension.

In fact, even in many countries of the world, the retirement age exceeds 65 years. For example, in Japan it is 70 years old, in Denmark, Norway - 67, in Germany-65, and in the USA, Canada, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Belgium - 65. But the average life expectancy in these countries is 78-82 years.

As for the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), which includes Azerbaijan, the retirement age in Kazakhstan is 63, in Ukraine, Belarus, Uzbekistan - 60, in Georgia and Armenia - 65.

Officially, the average life expectancy in Azerbaijan is 73.6 years. That is, those who retire receive a pension for only 8 years. But there are doubts about the official figure regarding the average life expectancy.

Vugar Bayramov, a member of the Milli Majlis Committee on Economic Policy, Industry and Entrepreneurship, told Turan that by the end of 2022, the number of recipients of old-age pensions amounted to 696,375 people: "as of January 1, 2024, this figure amounted to 701 thousand 440 people. Consequently, there is no reduction in the number of people who retire at full retirement age. On the contrary, the number of recipients of old-age pensions has increased by 5 thousand 65 people."

The deputy noted that there is a decrease in the number of recipients of disability pensions and the loss of the head of the family: "In general, the number of recipients of disability pensions and the loss of the head of the family decreased by 23 thousand 265 people last year."

He stressed that there is a difference between the average monthly salary of women and men, therefore, it is proposed to differentiate the retirement age: "We offer women to retire faster. This also exists in a number of developed countries. It is also advisable to multiply women's pension capital by a special coefficient and calculate it in accordance with it. Our proposal is that if women have a pension capital of 50 thousand, then this capital can be multiplied by a factor of 1.5, thereby increasing their pension capital to 75 thousand."

Economist Natik Jafarli also told Radio Azadlig that the reason for the reduction in the number of pension recipients is not only the issue of age, but also subsequent decisions regarding previously assigned pensions: "After a number of high-profile events, the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population began to take a tougher position on the appointment of various types of pensions. It also created more serious problems. That is, in addition to canceling the pensions of those who retired with the help of bribes, they began to cancel the pensions of those who received them."

According to Jafarli, the situation in this matter has not improved yet.

He believes that along with age, the main problem is the low size of pensions: "There are 900 thousand people in Azerbaijan who are employed in government jobs. They don't want to retire at all. It is not so important for them whether the retirement age will be higher or lower, because they know that when they retire they will receive less than the salary."

The economist noted that another key problem is the pension capital of people who are passing away: "The families of these people do not have direct access to their pension capital. It is necessary to amend the legislation, and this pension capital should be available to families. The money that accumulates in the Pension Fund is the funds that we pay, and the accumulated pension capital that dies before reaching retirement age does not go to the heirs."

According to Jafarli, there was no demographic need to raise the retirement age in Azerbaijan: "We are always given examples from Europe, they say that if it rises there, then it should rise in our country. But there the retirement age is rising due to the fact that the birth rate is low, life expectancy is high, and we have the opposite. Therefore, the issue of retirement age must be further discussed."

It was not possible to find out the opinion of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population.