(ANSA) - BELGRADE, FEB 3 - Women in the EU aged over 65 received a pension on average 29% lower than that of men in 2019, but the gap between men and women was much lower in several countries in Central- and Eastern Europe, according to Eurostat data.

In 2019, the smallest difference in pension income between women and men was recorded in Estonia (only 2%), followed by Denmark (7%), Hungary (10%), Slovakia (11%) and Czechia (13%). The largest difference was observed in Luxembourg, a country where women aged over 65 received 44% less pension than men, followed by Malta and the Netherlands (both 40%), Cyprus (39%), Austria (37%) and Germany (36%).

Compared with 2010, year in which the gap was at 34%, the gender pension difference has decreased at EU level by almost 5 percentage points, with the strongest decrease observed in Greece (-13%), Slovenia and Denmark (-11%) and Bulgaria (-10%), while the gender pension gap increased in Latvia (+6%), Lithuania and Slovakia (both +3%) Croatia and Italy (both +2%).

According to Eurostat, the proportion of pensioners aged over 65 at risk of poverty in the EU stood at 15.1%, with the highest rates observed in Latvia (54%), Estonia (51%), Bulgaria (36%) and Lithuania (35%), the lowest in Luxembourg (7%), Slovakia, France, Denmark (all 9%) and Greece (10%). (ANSA).