Malta tops EU in gender pension gap

Women in Malta aged 65 and over face substantial disparities in retirement income. According to Eurostat, Maltese women received pensions that were 40.3% lower than those of men in 2024, the highest average gender pension gap in the European Union (EU).

Across the EU, the average gender pension gap was 24.5%, with significant variation between countries. High average gaps were reported in the Netherlands (36.3%) and Austria (35.6%), while Estonia (5.6%), Slovakia (8.4%), and Hungary (9.6%) had much smaller differences.

Eurostat also reports the median pension gap, which provides a clearer picture of a typical retiree because it is less affected by very high or very low pensions that can skew the mean. In Malta, the median pension for women was 34.9% lower than for men, placing the country fifth highest in the EU for median gaps, well above the EU median of 24.9%. By comparison, Luxembourg (43.3%), Spain (41.1%), the Netherlands (39.6%), and Italy (36.0%) ranked higher, while Estonia (‑0.3%), Hungary (0.4%), and Denmark (2.7%) reported negligible disparities.

Eurostat highlights that differences in lifetime earnings and employment patterns are key drivers of gender pension gaps. Women are also more likely to work part-time or take career breaks, often for caregiving, and generally earn less over their working life. Pension systems that rely on lifetime earnings or continuous full-time employment can amplify these differences.

In Malta, a contributing factor is that female participation in the labour market was historically low, affecting pension entitlements for many older women.

In some countries, including Malta, the average gap exceeds the median, reflecting a small number of very high male pensions. In others, the median is larger, showing that even mid-level pensions for women are substantially lower than men’s. Malta’s data show both a high average and median gap, confirming that disparities are widespread across the distribution of pension incomes.