Kuwait has lowest retiring age among GCC countries – PIFSS
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Reducing retiring age will worsen the problems of the institution
KUWAIT CITY, Oct 5: Kuwait has the lowest retirement age among the Gulf countries — 55 years old for men and 50 years old for women, reports Al- Jarida daily quoting the Public Institution for Social Security (PIFSS).
The latest statistics released by PIFSS revealed that the retirement age in the public and private sectors in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar is 60 years old for both genders; while in Saudi Arabia, Oman and Bahrain, the retirement age is 60 years old for men and 55 years old for women. Also, Kuwait has the lowest contribution paid by the employee, employer and the State — the employee pays five percent of the salary, the employer pays 10 percent and the State pays 10 percent.
In the UAE, the employee pays five percent, the employer pays 15 percent in the public sector and 12.5 percent in the private sector while the State pays 2.5 percent.
In Bahrain, the employee pays six percent and the employers in both sectors pay nine percent.
In Saudi Arabia, the employee pays nine percent while the employers in both sectors pay nine percent.
In Oman, the employee pays seven percent while the employer in the public sector pays 17.7 percent and 11.5 percent in the private sector in addition to 5.5 percent paid by the State.
In Qatar, the employee pays five percent and the employers in both sectors pay 10 percent.
Meanwhile, Al-Qabas daily quoted sources as saying that reducing the retirement age will worsen the problems of PIFSS. Sources said previous estimates showed there will be actuarial deficit in 2026. However, researches revealed that the parliamentary bill on reducing the retirement age to 50 years old for men and 45 years old for women will speed up occurrence of the deficit.
Reasons for the deficit include the contributions of employees and the number of years paying the contributions is less than their counterparts in other GCC countries and Europe. Academic researcher Muhammad Al-Awadi said the average pension in 2007 was KD 895 and it increased by 41 percent in 2016 — KD 1,264. He disclosed the maximum pension in Finland is KD 580, KD 603 in Britain and KD 450 in Germany; adding that the retirement age in these countries range from 64 to 67 years old.
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