The number of pensioners fell by 100,000 in the first quarter of 2025

By the end of the first quarter of 2025, there were slightly more than 41 million pensioners in the Russian Federation — their number has decreased by 100,000 since the beginning of the year. Sergey Belyakov, President of the National Association of Non-Governmental Pension Funds (NAPF), told Izvestia about this in an interview. Of these, 8.1 million are working pensioners, and about 33 million are unemployed.

Double increase: starting from 2026, the pension indexation system will change

The increase to the insurance pension from 2026 will be calculated in February and April.

"The number of pensioners will definitely grow, as well as the relevance of NPFs. Many Russians are already transferring pension savings formed in the period from 2002 to 2014 to the PDS program," said Belyakov.

The total amount of pension assets in Russia, held both in NPFs and in the Social Fund, exceeded 8.1 trillion rubles, the head of the NAPF added. Russians should not be afraid to invest in the program, because all funds remain financially stable.

"For 10 years, there has not been a single case of bankruptcy of NPFs on the market, and the number of pension funds has increased over the past two years," Belyakov added.

NPFs give priority to protected assets, such as bonds, which have become more profitable during the record high key interest rate of 21%, explained the head of the NAPF. Due to this, some funds showed returns of up to 25% per annum by the end of 2024.

Read more in an exclusive interview with Izvestia:

"More than 330 billion rubles have already been invested in the long-term savings program"