The Austrian Pension System – How Recent Reforms Have Changed Fiscal Sustainability and Pension Benefits

This article discusses the most recent pension reforms in Austria, which were mainly triggered by the need to alleviate the budgetary pressure stemming from the age structure of the Austrian population. Using synthetic indicators, derived from the government’s budget constraint, the paper assesses fiscal sustainability before and after the major pension reforms. Austria’s fiscal sustainability was clearly improved by the reforms. The two main factors behind this improvement are a projected increase in the average effective retirement age and a projected reduction in the generosity of the mandatory state pension system. Based on available data, the paper assesses the current and prospective level of Austrian public pension benefits and puts them into an international perspective.