Malta had the second highest gender pension gap out of all EU Member States in 2018, information issued by Eurostat reveals.

The gender pension gap shows the percentage by which women's average pension income is higher or lower compared with men. Pension income includes old age benefits, survivors' benefits as well as regular pensions from individual private plans.

In 2018, women in the European Union (EU) aged over 65 received a pension that was on average 30% lower than that of men. However, over time the gender pension gap has been decreasing and is now 4 percentage points less compared with 2010 (34%), Eurostat has said.

"Although women received lower pensions in all EU Member States, the extent of the gap varies widely. The largest difference was observed in Luxembourg, where women aged over 65 received 43% less pension than men. Luxembourg was closely followed by Malta (42%), the Netherlands (40%), Austria (39%), Cyprus (38%) and Germany (37%)," Eurostat said.

Compared with 2010, the gender pension gap has decreased in the majority of EU Member States. The most noticeable decreases were recorded in Greece (from 37% in 2010 to 25% in 2018), Denmark (-11 percentage points), Belgium and Slovenia (both -10 percentage points) as well as in France (-9 percentage points). 

In contrast, the gender pension gap increased in seven EU Member States since 2010. The most significant increase was observed in Malta (from 22% in 2010 to 42% in 2018, or +20 percentage points), followed by Latvia (9 percentage points) and Croatia (4 percentage points), while it remained unchanged in Slovakia.    

In 2018, the proportion of pensioners aged over 65 at risk of poverty in the European Union (EU) stood at 15%. Unlike the gender pension gap, at-risk-of-poverty rate for pensioners has been rising gradually in the EU since 2013, when it stood below 13%. In Malta in 2018 it stood at 23%.