Irish pension schemes owed more than €767 billion by the end of 2021 to their members, more than three times the size of the economy, official figures show.
According to the State’s Central Statistics Office (CSO), Irish pension schemes had built up total liabilities of €767.3 billion by the end of the 2021.
This was 329 per cent of gross national income, a figure that measures the size of the Republic’s economy but excludes repatriated multi-national profits, State statisticians said.
Social insurance pensions, paid by the State, accounted for €470.7 billion of the total, followed by Government schemes for its own workers at €175.7 billion.
Cutting off family members: ‘It had never occurred to me that you could grieve somebody who was still alive’
The bird-shaped obsession that drives James Crombie, one of Ireland’s best sports photographers
The Dublin riots, one year on: ‘I know what happened doesn’t represent Irish people’
‘I know what happened in that room’: the full story of the Conor McGregor case
Private schemes funded by contributions from workers made up the balance at €120.9 billion, said the CSO on Thursday.
The total liability had risen €159.5 billion, or 26 per cent, since the previous survey in 2018, with social insurance accounting for the biggest leap, €111.5 billion or 31 per cent.