Payment of Finnish national pensions to other EU and EEA countries, Switzerland and the UK to end on 1 February 2025

Parliament has approved a legislative proposal aimed at making the Finnish national pension a minimum benefit within the meaning of the European Union’s regulation on social security. As a result, national pensions will only be paid to persons who are living permanently in Finland.  

What will change  

Starting from 1 February 2025, Kela will no longer pay national old-age and disability pensions to recipients in other EU and EEA countries, Switzerland or the United Kingdom. The change may also be relevant to determining which country is responsible for the affected customers’ medical treatment costs. Further, the changes may have an effect on disability allowances, family benefits and child increases. 

National pensions will remain available during a temporary stay outside Finland. The changes will not apply to survivors’ pensions, i.e., orphans’ and spouses’ pensions, which will continue to be paid to persons in EU and EEA countries, Switzerland or the United Kingdom. 

Cases governed by a social security agreement will also not be affected, which means that Kela will under certain conditions pay pensions covered by such agreements to recipients in the United States, Canada, Israel, Chile or Australia.  
 
The authorised pension providers will continue to pay earnings-related pensions outside Finland.  

Responsibility for the costs of medical treatment 
 
If a person’s only benefit from Finland is a national pension and their national pension is discontinued, Finland will no longer be responsible for their or their family members’ medical treatment costs, provided that they live an EU or EEA country, Switzerland or the United Kingdom and their family members live in the same country.

Any certificate of entitlement to medical care they may have been issued in Finland (S1 or E121) will be revoked. They will also no longer be able to use the European Health Insurance Card issued by Finland. The entitlement to medical care will also end in cases where Finland has been responsible for the costs of medical treatment on the grounds that the person’s spouse has only received a national pension from Finland.

If a person or a family member receives an earnings-related pension from Finland, Finland will continue to be responsible for the cost of medical treatment provided in their country of residence. 

Effects on the care allowance for pensioners 

If a person living in an EU or EEA country, Switzerland or the United Kingdom has only received a national pension from Finland, their right to a care allowance for pensioners will end as well. If they receive an earnings-related pension from Finland, their right to the care allowance will continue. 

Effects on family benefits 

If a person lives in an EU or EEA country, Switzerland or the United Kingdom and receives a child benefit or child care allowance from Finland, the sole basis of which is their national pension, their right to the child benefit or child care allowance will also end when their national pension ends. 

If they receive a daily allowance for parents from Finland, the allowance is paid until it expires, but they will not have a right to a new allowance. 

Effects on child increases 

If a person lives in an EU or EEA country, Switzerland or the United Kingdom and has received a child increase solely on the basis of their national pension, the payment of the child increase will end.

Effects on the national pension and housing allowance for pensioners for persons who now live in Finland but have in the past lived in an EU or EEA country, Switzerland or the United Kingdom 

If a person who now lives in Finland has previously lived or worked in another EU or EEA country, Switzerland or the United Kingdom, their national pension will be regarded as a minimum pension benefit. The pension is therefore recalculated as a minimum pension when the it is next reviewed either as scheduled or because of a change in family circumstances. If the amount of the national pension changes, that may also affect any housing allowance for pensioners or guarantee pension received by the person in question.

Effects in situations where a person living in Finland receives a national pension and plans to move permanently to an EU or EEA country, to Switzerland or the United Kingdom 

If a person moves permanently to another EU or EEA country, to Switzerland or to the United Kingdom, the payment of their national pension will end as of the beginning of the month after their move. This does not apply to survivors’ pensions, i.e., spouses’ and orphans’ pensions. It also does not affect the payment of earnings-related pensions outside Finland. If a person's only benefit from Finland is a national pension, Finland’s responsibility for the cost of their medical treatment will end on the day they leave Finland. 
 
Effects in situations where a person living in Finland receives a national pension, survivor’s pension or child increase, and plans to move permanently to a country other than an EU or EEA country, Switzerland or the United Kingdom 

If a person moves to a so-called third country, payment of their national pension, survivor’s pension or child increase will end at the beginning of the month following their move. Prior to the change in the law, payment of these benefits ended one year after the move or sooner. Pensions can under certain conditions continue to be paid to those who move to a country that has a social security agreement with Finland. 

Customers do not have to contact Kela 

 Customers do not have to contact Kela on account of this change. Starting from the beginning of next year, customers who live abroad will receive decision notices informing them of the discontinuation of their benefits. 

According to benefits manager Päivi Kuivasniemi, Kela cannot tell whether persons whose Finnish national pension ends could have a right to benefits in their country of residence.  “There is also no need for customers who live in Finland to contact Kela about the recalculation of their pension”, she says. 

National pensions are not paid to persons living in an EU or EEA country, Switzerland or the United Kingdom even if the payments would go into a Finnish bank account.

According to estimates, 81% of national pension recipients living in an EU or EEA country, Switzerland or the United Kingdom, in total a little under 20,000 persons, will see a reduction of less than EUR 200 in their monthly pension income. For around 4,500 recipients of a national pension, their pension incomes will decrease by more than EUR 200 per month.   

The recalculation of the national pension as a minimum pension benefit is estimated to affect up to about 32,000 recipients of national pensions who now live in Finland but have in the past lived or worked in an EU or EEA country, Switzerland or the United Kingdom. The amount of the national pension may go up or down in each individual case. For the affected persons, the change in the amount of their pension may also affect any housing allowance for pensioners or guarantee pension they may receive.

The change is being made in line with a 2017 decision by the EU Court of Justice. As a result of the court decision, the Swedish guarantee pension became a minimum benefit within the meaning of the social security regulation. At the beginning of 2023, Sweden permanently discontinued payments of the guarantee pension to persons living outside Sweden. The corresponding change will now be made in Finland. The change is aimed at producing savings of EUR 38 million in the state budget.    

Learn more  

Hallitus esittää, että kansaneläkettä maksettaisiin jatkossa vain Suomessa pysyvästi asuville henkilöille - Ministry of Social Affairs and Health press release, in Finnish

Government proposes to end payment of Finnish national pensions to other EU Member States and EEA countries, Switzerland and the UK as of 1 February 2025 | Kela 

Pension from Finland to another country | Our services | Kela