Standards of living vary widely among pensioners in Europe. Thus, in Eastern Europe and the Baltic countries, older people more often live below the poverty line, and in Northern and Western Europe they have more stable incomes. At the same time, in Switzerland and the UK, poverty rates in retirement were higher than expected.

Pensioners in Eastern Europe and the Baltic countries are most likely to face financial instability due to low pension benefits and weak social protection systems. The highest poverty rates among older people are recorded in Estonia, Latvia and Croatia.

Among Europe's five largest economies, the UK has the highest rate, followed by Germany (14.1%) and Spain (13.1%). Italy performs slightly better at 12%, while France stands out with the lowest at just 6%..

Poverty rates among pensioners tend to be lower in Western and Northern Europe. Iceland (3.1%), Norway (4.1%), Denmark (4.3%) and Finland (5.5%) have some of the lowest rates.

These countries benefit from strong social security systems and universal pension schemes. However, Switzerland (19.8%) and the UK (14.9%) stand out, with pensioner poverty rates higher than might be expected.

In general, the poverty rate among women pensioners is much higher than among men. Analysts note that this is due to higher life expectancy.

The ratio of the income of persons over 65 years of age to the average income in the country) is an indicator that demonstrates where pensioners receive the least relative to the average citizen.

“Those countries that have large social benefits for pensioners, whether they are targeted only to the poorest or paid to everyone, tend to have lower poverty rates among older age groups compared to the overall population, such as Denmark, Iceland and Norway,” Reilly said.