More and more Bulgarians continue to work even after reaching retirement age, thus receiving both a salary and a supplement to their pension. As of April 1, 2025, the number of working pensioners in the country reaches 363,701 people, which is an increase of 125,000 people compared to 2020, when they were 237,686. This is shown by the latest data from the bulletin of the National Social Security Institute (NSSI).
The average increase in the monthly pension as a result of additional service is 16.36 leva. Although the amount seems modest, Bulgaria remains one of the few countries in the European Union where pensions are not taxed and no social security contributions are calculated on them at the expense of the pensioner.
This year, the officially recalculated pensions for insurance length of service and old age are 234,085. Significant growth is observed among working pensioners with a disability pension, who are now 128,687 - 12,942 more than in 2024. Over the past three years, the number of people with a disability pension who are also working has increased by over 23%.
However, for disability pensions, the increase from additional service is lower - an average of 9 leva per month.
The NSSI data also show records - one working pensioner managed to increase his pension by as much as 385.76 leva. In the mass case, however, the increase is significantly smaller. Over 80,000 people received an increase of between 1 and 10 leva, and 3,620 people received an increase of up to 1 leva.
Nearly 127,000 pensioners have accumulated additional insurance experience of between one and five years.
More and more Bulgarians who have accumulated experience abroad are receiving their pensions in Bulgaria. Their number has increased from just over 50,000 at the end of 2020 to 75,188 by the end of 2024, which is an increase of nearly 50%.
The largest number of pensions in our country are received from Germany (12,534), followed by Spain (11,102), Greece (10,218) and Italy (8,649). According to the experts of the National Social Security Institute, these are the countries that were most preferred by Bulgarian migrants due to better working conditions and quality of life.