In 2023, 45.1 per cent of people aged 50 to 74 across the EU were receiving a pension. In Cyprus, the rate was significantly lower at 37.8 per cent, the fifth-lowest in the bloc.

Only Spain (30.7 per cent), Greece (34.1 per cent), Italy (35.4 per cent) and Denmark (37.7 per cent) recorded lower percentages.

The data also show that just 1.9 per cent of people in this age group in Cyprus received a disability pension, well below the EU average of 4.6 per cent. Only Malta and Greece had similarly low figures.

Across the EU, disability pensions were more common among those aged 50 to 59, but old-age pensions quickly became the dominant form of retirement income as people aged.

Poland had the highest percentage of pensioners aged 50–74, at 56.2 per cent, followed closely by Estonia and Slovakia, both at 54.7 per cent.

Disability pensions or related allowances were most common in Estonia (11.5 per cent), Denmark (10.1 per cent) and Lithuania (9.1 per cent), according to the report.