The increase was mainly due to early retirements due to the age flexibility, which grew 32% compared to the previous year, to 15,300, while retirements due to long-term unemployment increased only 1.9%, to nearly 9,000.
According to Jornal de Negócios, this increase occurred after the government’s 2023 decision to maintain the retirement age at 66 years and 4 months for 2024, despite new life expectancy estimates from the National Institute of Statistics (INE), and without immediately worsening the sustainability factor. This factor, which determines the cuts applicable to early retirement benefits, rose to 16% in 2024, reflecting provisional life expectancy figures.
The Social Security financial sustainability report also indicates that there were 102,000 people who had requested early retirement benefits but had not yet reached normal retirement age, a 4.5% decrease from the previous year. The normal retirement age in 2025 is 66 years and 7 months, rising to 66 years and 9 months in 2026. The current pension factor remains at 16.93%, maintaining the cut rules for those who retire early.