Old-age benefits

This page provides information on old-age benefits paid out under the three pillars of the old-age provision scheme.

These are all benefits paid out to persons who were permanently resident in Switzerland on 31 December 2022. A person may receive one or more benefits from the same pillar in a given year (e.g., a person may receive two pillar 3a capital sum payments).

Number of benefits under the old-age pension system

In 2022, 345 719 old-age benefits were paid out under Switzerland's three-pillar pension system. In Switzerland, the statutory retirement age is 64 for women and 65 for men. However, it is not compulsory to claim old-age benefits on reaching statutory retirement age.

Under the three pillars, it is possible to claim benefits before or after this age limit:

• Under the Old-Age and Survivors' Insurance (OASI) scheme, it is possible to draw a pension at the earliest two years before reaching statutory retirement age. The first pension payment can also be deferred until after the legal retirement age.
• In occupational pension plans, benefits can be drawn before and after the statutory retirement age (for both sexes: 58 at the earliest and 70 at the latest if still in employment).
• In a restricted private pension plan (pillar 3a), pension funds may pay old-age benefits no earlier than five years before the person concerned reaches statutory retirement age and, if the person is still working, no later than five years after that age.

Number of new retirement benefits paid by the old-age pension system in 2022

	Pension		Lump-sum		Total
	OASI	PP (PF and VBI)	PP (PF and VBI)	Pillar 3a
Total (all age groups)	97 373	46 274	67 790	134 282	345 719
Men (all age groups)	47 239	26 455	39 205	77 478	190 377
Women (all age groups)	50 134	19 819	28 585	56 804	155 342
Men (before legal RA)	4 411	12 566	18 143	50 792	85 912
Women (before legal RA)	4 128	8 403	13 308	35 836	61 675
Men (legal RA)	37 081	12 490	15 836	17 664	83 071
Women (legal RA)	39 688	8 907	10 485	14 393	73 473
Men (after legal RA)	5 747	1 399	5 226	9 022	21 394
Women (after legal RA)	6 318	2 509	4 792	6 575	20 194

Remarks:
OASI = old-age and survivors' insurance
PP = occupational pension plan
PF = pension funds
VBI = vested benefits institutions
RA = retirement age

Sources: FSO – New pensions statistics (NRS), Population and Households Statistics (STATPOP), 24.11.2023 version

© FSO 2023

Most people receive their first OASI pension when they reach statutory retirement age. In 2022, this was the case for almost 79% of new OASI benefits, and around 9% of OASI benefits were paid out to people in advance.

In 2022, more than 45% of pension benefits were paid out for the first time by occupational pension plans and 46% of lump-sum benefits were received before the legal retirement age. Under occupation pension plans, only around 8% of pension benefits and 15% of lump-sum payments were paid out after the legal retirement age.

For the pillar 3a, almost 65% of lump-sum payments were paid out before the legal retirement age. Only 12% of 3a lump-sum payments were paid out after the legal retirement age.

Level of new OASI pensions and occupational pensions

The median monthly amount of the new OASI pension was CHF 1810 in 2022. The "median value" indicates that 50% of pensions paid out were higher and 50% lower. Not surprisingly, OASI pensions claimed before the legal retirement age were slightly lower than those who took their retirement at 65 or 64 years.

The median monthly occupational pension for men receiving their first pension before the statutory age of 65 was the highest (CHF 2567). In 2nd place were benefits paid to men aged over 65 on receipt of their first pension (CHF 2278). The lowest median monthly pensions (CHF 1731) were for men at statutory retirement age.

Among women, the median monthly pension level was slightly higher for those receiving their 2nd pillar pensions after the legal retirement age (CHF 1508), followed by those receiving them before the legal retirement age of 64 (CHF 1390). As for men, the lowest median monthly pensions were received by women of the statutory retirement age of 64 when receiving the benefit for the first time (CHF 1027).

Amount of lump-sum payment benefits from the occupational pension plan and pillar 3a

The highest median lump-sum payments for men were received after the legal retirement age (CHF 180 839). In 2nd place were lump-sum payments received before the legal retirement age (CHF 159 164). Finally, the lowest lump sum payments were paid out to men who received them at the legal retirement age (CHF 143 046).

The same was true for women. They received the highest payments after the legal retirement age (CHF 81 897), followed by those who withdrew before the legal retirement age (CHF 63 257). Women who received their lump-sum payment at the legal retirement age received the lowest amounts (CHF 61 055).

By contrast, pillar 3a lump-sum payments did not differ significantly depending on when they were received (before or after statutory retirement age). In 2022, they were CHF 44 104 for men (median) and CHF 38 860 for women (median).

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