Nearly 50,000 Receive Over 2 Million KRW Monthly from National Pension as of November Last Year
Longer Enrollment and Inflation-Adjusted Payments Drive Pension Increases
Pension Alone Now Sufficient for Standard Retirement Living for Individuals
The number of people receiving more than 2 million KRW per month from the National Pension is approaching 50,000. This amount far exceeds the appropriate living expenses considered by middle-aged and older adults over their 50s, suggesting it will be a significant help for retirement life.
According to the "National Pension Statistics as of November 2024" released by the National Pension Service on the 11th, as of the end of November last year, the number of beneficiaries receiving more than 2 million KRW per month was counted at 49,374. This accounts for about 0.7% of the total 6,995,544 beneficiaries.
By gender, men accounted for the overwhelming majority with 48,489 (98.2%). In contrast, women were only 885 (1.8%). This is interpreted as a result of fewer women participating in economic activities since the introduction of the National Pension, mainly holding lower-wage jobs, and experiencing frequent career interruptions due to marriage and childbirth.
The number of beneficiaries earning more than 2 million KRW per month solely from the National Pension has been increasing every year. The first beneficiary receiving 2 million KRW per month appeared in January 2018, 30 years after the National Pension system was implemented in 1988. Since then, the numbers have grown to 10 in 2018, 98 in 2019, 437 in 2020, 1,355 in 2021, 5,410 in 2022, and surged to 17,810 in 2023. As the National Pension system matures, the number of people who have been enrolled for over 20 years and receive old-age pensions (the general form of pension received upon reaching pensionable age) continues to increase, and the basic pension amount has steadily risen each year in line with inflation.
The longer the enrollment period, the higher the pension amount, making the enrollment period the most important factor in increasing pension amounts. This fact can be seen in the National Pension Service's data on "Average Enrollment Period of New Old-Age Pension Beneficiaries by Monthly Pension Amount."
A detailed analysis of the average enrollment period by monthly pension amount for new beneficiaries in 2022 shows that the average enrollment periods were ▲2.69 years (269 months) for 700,000 to less than 800,000 KRW ▲2.85 years (285 months) for 800,000 to less than 900,000 KRW ▲3.00 years (300 months) for 900,000 to less than 1,000,000 KRW ▲3.41 years (341 months) for 1,000,000 to 1,500,000 KRW ▲3.85 years (385 months) for 1,500,000 to less than 2,000,000 KRW, indicating that the longer one is enrolled in the National Pension, the higher the amount received in old age.
According to the 10th National Retirement Security Panel Survey released by the National Pension Research Institute under the National Pension Service in December last year, middle-aged and older adults over 50 subjectively consider the minimum monthly living expenses needed for retirement in good health to be 1,361,000 KRW, and the appropriate living expenses to be 1,921,000 KRW. Considering this, receiving 2 million KRW every month from the National Pension is a satisfactory level for maintaining a standard lifestyle in retirement.
As such, the amount paid by the National Pension system is gradually increasing. However, the overall average monthly pension amount is only 656,494 KRW, making it difficult for many beneficiaries to cover even the minimum living expenses in retirement with the pension alone.
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