Retirement pension in Sweden
In Sweden, there are different types of pensions. This page considers retirement pension (allmän pension). Most people who work or have worked in Sweden also have occupational pension from their employers, and some have also saved money themselves towards their pension.
Retirement pension is the national pension for which the Swedish pensions authority, the Swedish Pensions Agency (Pensionsmyndigheten) is responsible. It is made up of several different parts - income pension (inkomstpension), premium pension (premiepension), guarantee pension (garantipension), income pension supplement (inkomstpensionstillägg), housing supplement (bostadstillägg), personal income support (äldreförsörjningsstöd), and survivor’s pension (efterlevandepension.)
You can read about other Swedish pensions on the Info Norden page about the Swedish pension system.
Are you entitled to Swedish retirement pension?
Everyone who has worked or lived in Sweden is entitled to retirement pension. The pension is based on all the income you have paid tax on. This also includes income such as unemployment benefit, sickness benefit or activity compensation (aktivitetsersättning) and parental allowance.
Every year, 18.5 percent of your pensionable income, i.e. salary and other taxable benefits up to 7.5 times the income base amount (inkomstbasbelopp) is set aside for your retirement pension. The income base amount is calculated by the Swedish Pensions Agency, but it is the Swedish Government that sets the amount each year. The amount is used, for example, to calculate the highest pensionable income. Most of the 18.5 percent goes to the income pension. The remaining smaller portion goes to the premium pension.
If you have low or no income, you may also be entitled to the guarantee pension if you have lived in Sweden.
If you are self-employed
If you are self-employed, you must ensure that you save towards your pension yourself. In order to receive the same pension you would have received had you been employed, you must take out salary or surplus and pay taxes and fees. You must also compensate for the lack of occupational pension through private savings.
See how much your pension will be
If you have a Swedish electronic ID, such as BankID, Freja eID+ or Foreign eID, you can log in to the website of the Swedish Pensions Agency (pensionsmyndigheten.se) and see a pension forecast of how much your monthly pension will be when you retire. The forecast shows retirement pension, occupational pension and your private pension savings. However, this is only if the pensions are earned in Sweden.
You also receive an annual report from the Swedish Pensions Agency and from any occupational pension companies showing how much you have earned towards your pension each year. If you are unsure about whether you have an occupational pension, contact your employer.
Calculation of Swedish pension if you have lived or worked in several countries
The Swedish retirement pension is only calculated on what you have earned in Sweden. The guarantee pension can be affected by both the number of years your have worked or lived in another EU/EEA country, and the pension you may receive from that country or from another country outside the EU/EEA.
Payment of retirement pension
In Sweden, there is no fixed retirement age. You can yourself decide when you want to retire and the age at which you want to draw all or part of your pension. However, from 2023, the earliest you can start to draw your pension is when you are 63, which affects you if you were born in 1961 or 1962. If you were born later, other ages apply.
The time when you start drawing your pension is very significant for the size of your pension. From 2023, you are entitled to work until you are 69. If you want to work beyond that, your employer must give approval.
If you live in Sweden, but have lived in other countries, you apply for pension in the other countries via the Swedish Pensions Agency website or by submitting a form. If you have worked in several countries, you should apply six months before you want your first payment. If you have only worked in Sweden, it is enough if you apply three months before you want your first payment.
Retirement pension is paid for the rest of your life.
If you live in another Nordic country, and/or have been covered by social insurance in the country in which you live now, you should contact the pensions authority in that country to apply for pension from Sweden.
The pensions authority in that country will send your application to the Swedish Pensions Agency, which will process your application and pay your Swedish retirement pension. The case processing time between when your application is received by the Swedish Pensions Agency and when you receive your first payment is normally around four months, but in some situations may take up to six months or more.
You can take the pension you have earned in Sweden, both your retirement pension (ålderspension) and any occupational pension (tjänstepension), to other countries.
You may be entitled to a Swedish guarantee pension if you have had little or no income from work and are living in Sweden. If you move abroad, you are no longer entitled to a guarantee pension and payment stops.
Remember to notify the Swedish Pensions Agency if you move to a new address.
Can you take Swedish retirement pension with you to another Nordic country?
You can take the pension you have earned in Sweden, both your retirement pension (ålderspension) and any occupational pension (tjänstepension), to other countries.
You may be entitled to a Swedish guarantee pension if you have had little or no income from work and are living in Sweden. If you move abroad, you are no longer entitled to a guarantee pension, so payment stops.
What happens to the retirement pension when the person dies?
When a close relative dies, you may receive survivor’s pension as financial support. Survivor’s pension is part of the retirement pension, and consists of child’s pension (barnpension), adjustment pension (omställningspension) and widow’s pension (änkepension). Which pension you are entitled to depends on whether you are under 18, a spouse/partner, or a widow(er).
Swedish survivor’s pension is based on Swedish conditions, and serves as financial support to cover part of the income that the deceased contributed to. The requirement for entitlement to Swedish survivor’s pension is that the deceased at some time worked or lived in Sweden.
Survivor’s pension is completely based on the deceased’s pensionable income that he or she earned in Sweden. It is not paid as a fixed amount that applies for everyone. If the deceased had a low pensionable income in Sweden, the survivor’s pension is also low. This applies regardless of whether the survivor has low or no pension in the country in which he or she lives.
Where should you pay tax if you receive Swedish retirement pension when you live abroad?
If you live abroad and have pension from Sweden, you normally pay a special income tax for people who live abroad (SINK). The SINK tax is either 0% or 25% of your income. The tax deduction is calculated on your monthly amount after deduction for a personal allowance. You only pay tax on the part of your pension income that exceeds the personal allowance.
What regulations apply to elderly people on the labour market?
You can start to draw your Swedish pension from the month of your 63rd birthday. You may take choose to draw a certain percentage of your Swedish pension - 25 percent, 50 percent, 75 percent or 100 percent. You may draw your pension and work at the same time, and if you change your mind and want to start working full-time, you can stop drawing your pension. Other regulations may apply for your occupational pension.
From 2023, you are entitled to work until you are 69. If you want to work beyond that, your employer must give approval.
If you draw your pension later, less tax is deducted. If you continue working instead of retiring, you pay a lower tax on your salary than you did in previous years. This applies from the year of your 67th birthday.
Who should you contact if you have questions?
More information
Please fill in our contact form if you have any questions or if you have encountered an obstacle in another Nordic country.
NB! If you have questions regarding the processing of a specific case or application, or other personal matters, please contact the relevant authority directly.
