More than 1,3 million pensioners are still working in Germany despite having reached statutory retirement age, according to a new report. However, the federal government has argued that there are multiple reasons why someone might continue working in retirement - this doesn’t necessarily mean that pension benefits are inadequate. 

Over 1 million pensioners in Germany continue to work beyond retirement age

At the end of 2022, around 1,3 million of the 18,6 million pensioners living in Germany had some sort of job. This figure emerged as a response from the federal government to a request from the Left Party, the Ippen Media Group reports. 

The figures, which originally came from the Deutsche Rentenversicherung, show that as of December 31, 2022, around 1 million pensioners were receiving a salary on top of their pension benefit, usually from a mini-job. A further 300.000 were working in some form of marginal employment. 

As it stands, the statutory pension age in Germany is 65 years, and will be gradually increased to 67 years for those born in 1964 or later. 

Average pension in Germany is 1.400 euros per month

Left party MP Matthias W. Birkwald said that it was “unbearable that pensions in Germany are on average so low that many pensioners are dependent on continuing to work”, Spiegel reports. According to figures from the Deutsche Rentenversicherung, the average pension in Germany in 2022 was just under 1.400 euros per month. 

However, in July this year, following a similar request from the AfD, the federal government pointed to a report by the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) that found there were multiple reasons why someone might continue working beyond retirement age, not just financial ones. 

According to the IAB report, people working in old age reported enjoying their work, finding a sense of meaning in it, and benefiting from contact with other people. The report found that these factors were actually more compelling reasons for people staying in work, rather than financial reasons.