Greek pensions in September 2026: the average main pension was €869.17 before tax, up slightly, and the €769 figure covers only new awards

Greece paid 4,796,688 pensions to 2,542,740 pensioners in September 2026, at a cost of €2,876,330,470.52 for the month.¹ The figures come from the monthly «Ήλιος» (Ilios, "Sun") report, which ΗΔΙΚΑ (IDIKA), the state IT company for health and social insurance, publishes for the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (Υπουργείο Εργασίας & Κοινωνικών Υποθέσεων, Ypourgeio Ergasias kai Koinonikon Ypotheseon).¹

On 9 October 2026 Insider.gr reported that the average pension of e-ΕΦΚΑ (e-EFKA), the unified social security fund, "falls to €769" (in our translation).⁴ That figure describes only the new pensions that entered payment in September 2026. The average of all 2,928,913 main pensions paid that month, new awards included, rose slightly, from €867.71 in August 2026 to €869.17 in September 2026, before tax.¹²

All amounts in the «Ήλιος» report are before tax. For pensioners' income, the report says its method "includes tax deductions, with the deduction for health and ΑΚΑΓΕ subtracted" (in our translation): the figures are before tax but after the health contribution and a deduction for ΑΚΑΓΕ (AKAGE), a state pension reserve fund.¹ The report also gives income figures under its previous method, which keeps the health contribution in, and this article quotes some of them, saying so each time.¹ For pension spending, the report says the figures include "tax deductions, health deductions and ΑΚΑΓΕ" (in our translation), so none of these amounts is take-home pay.¹

How much is the average Greek pension?

The average main pension in Greece was €869.17 a month before tax in September 2026, across 2,928,913 main pensions of every kind.¹ Main old-age pensions averaged €980.08, and half of them paid less than the median of €870.88.¹

Main pension, September 2026	Number	Average	Median
Old-age	1,976,746	€980.08	€870.88
Survivors'	662,449	€639.05	€537.58
Disability	206,499	€644.99	€563.12
Uninsured elderly (ΟΠΕΚΑ)	35,598	€375.50	€418.95
Other	47,621	€807.57	€846.00
All main pensions	2,928,913	€869.17	not given

All amounts in the table are monthly spending figures, before tax and before the health and ΑΚΑΓΕ deductions.¹³ ΟΠΕΚΑ (OPEKA) pays the social solidarity benefit for uninsured elderly people, which the report counts alongside pensions.¹

Greece also paid 1,420,133 supplementary pensions in September 2026, averaging €196.08 a month.¹ Supplementary old-age pensions averaged €221.55 (median €199.88).³ A further 447,642 «μερίσματα» (dividend payments), which the report counts among the pensions paid, averaged €116.50.¹

How much does a pensioner receive in total?

Many pensioners draw more than one pension, so the report also adds together every pension a person receives.¹ Greece's 1,951,345 old-age pensioners received an average of €1,220.97 a month from all their pensions in September 2026, with a median of €1,142.67, before tax and including the health contribution.³ After the health contribution, and still before tax, the old-age average was €1,151.91 and the median €1,076.74.³

On that same basis, after the health contribution and before tax, the 375,917 people on survivors' pensions averaged €735.11 (median €636.15) in September 2026, and the 173,442 disability pensioners averaged €700.22 (median €583.10).¹ Across all 2,542,740 pensioners, the average was €1,047.64 and the median €940.46, after the health contribution and before tax.¹

The report's figures by sex use an old-age group of 1,962,986 people, and the report says this group includes the uninsured elderly paid by ΟΠΕΚΑ.¹ By our calculation, that is the 1,951,345 old-age pensioners plus 11,641 uninsured elderly.¹ Dividing the report's totals, by our calculation, men in that group averaged €1,262.70 from all their pensions in September 2026 and women €1,016.67, after the health contribution and before tax.¹³ By our calculation, the women's average is about €246, or 19%, below the men's. Women make up 341,441 of the 375,917 people on survivors' pensions.¹

Do most Greek pensions pay more than €1,000?

That depends on whether you count pensions or people. About 42.82% of main old-age pensions paid more than €1,000 a month in September 2026, and most main pensions fell between €500 and €1,000.¹ The report notes that this analysis covers pensions, not a pensioner's income.¹

Counted per person, adding up the annex's income bands gives, by our calculation, 1,065,224 of the 1,962,986 people in its old-age group receiving more than €1,000 a month from all their pensions in September 2026, after the health contribution and before tax.³ That is about 54%, by our calculation. The same table puts 207,639 of them at €500 or less, by our calculation.³ That old-age group includes the uninsured elderly paid by ΟΠΕΚΑ, as the report states.¹

Why did an Insider.gr headline say the average pension fell to €769?

The €769.76 figure is the average monthly amount, before tax, of 13,825 new e-ΕΦΚΑ pensions cleared for payment in September 2026.¹ The August 2026 batch had 15,716 new e-ΕΦΚΑ pensions averaging €775.78, so the new-pension average was €6.02 lower, by our calculation.² New public-sector pensions averaged €1,201.39 across 907 awards in September 2026, against €1,229.85 across 1,055 in August.¹²

The €769.76 is the average of the month's new e-ΕΦΚΑ pensions, not the average of all pensions in payment.¹

The September 2026 batch mixed 5,659 old-age, 4,144 survivors', 2,345 disability and 1,677 other pensions.¹ August's batch had 7,791 old-age and 3,899 survivors' pensions.² The report gives no reason for the lower average. Survivors' pensions are smaller on average than old-age pensions, but we cannot say how much of the difference the mix explains.¹ The new pensions in a monthly report are decisions issued in earlier months and cleared that month.¹

Nothing in the report points to a cut in existing pensions. The average income of old-age pensioners from all their pensions rose from €1,217.81 in July 2026 to €1,218.61 in August and €1,220.97 in September, before tax and including the health contribution.¹³

What changed for pensions in January 2026?

From 1 January 2026, the total amount of main e-ΕΦΚΑ pensions that had started by 31 December 2025 rose by 2.4%.⁵⁶ A decision set the coefficient provided for by article 14(4) of law 4387/2016 at 1.024.⁵⁶ Insider.gr reported that, of the 671,586 pensioners with a «προσωπική διαφορά» ("personal difference"), about 45% would receive the full increase and the rest half of it, with the remainder offset.⁶

What else does the September 2026 report show?

25.93% of Greek pensioners were over 81 in September 2026, and people aged 61 to 70 received the highest amounts; those aged 61 to 65 averaged €1,149.04 a month, before tax and after the health contribution.¹ In September 2026, 14,391 pensions, worth a total of €7,672,133.39, were stopped; the report groups them as suspensions "because of changes in civil status (death, marriage)", in our translation.¹ Of those, 3,786 were supplementary pensions.¹

The annex lists 4,737,770 pensions under Greek nationality (ΕΛΛΑΔΑ) in September 2026, and others under nationalities including Albanian (20,451 pensions) and Bulgarian (10,600 pensions).³ Nationality is not residence, and the report does not say how many pensions go abroad.¹³