Italy

The Pension Landscape Italy

The 1st pillar state pension is the main source of retirement income in Italy. Supplementary pensions play a smaller, although growing, role.

The Italian pension system can be described as consisting of three pillars:

  • 1st pillar: compulsory statutory pensions
  • 2nd pillar: occupational/collective supplementary pensions

  • 3rd pillar: individual supplementary pension savings

     

Provider/ Institution:INPS (Istituto Nazionale della Previdenza Sociale).

INPS is the main institution administering compulsory statutory pensions in Italy. Some regulated professions (such as lawyers, engineers, doctors) have separate pension funds (Casse di previdenza).

Who is covered:Compulsory pension insurance covers employees and self-employed workers, either through INPS or, for certain professions, through separate compulsory pension institutions.
How it is financed:

The statutory pension system is financed on a pay-as-you-go (PAYG) basis, through compulsory social-security contributions and public financing.

  • Workers with contributions before 1996: their pension may include a component calculated under the previous earnings-related method.
  • Workers with no contribution record before 1 January 1996: their pension is calculated entirely under the contributory method (based on contributions credited).
  • For all workers, pension rights accrued from 1 January 2012 onwards are calculated under the contributory method.
Old-age pension:The standard old-age pension (pensione di vecchiaia) in 2026 is generally available from the age of 67, with at least 20 years of contributions. Specific conditions and exceptions apply.
Early pension:

The ordinary early-retirement pension (pensione anticipata ordinaria) is based mainly on contribution history rather than age. Until 31 December 2026, it requires:

  • 42 years and 10 months of contributions for men.
  • 41 years and 10 months of contributions for women.
  •  

Other forms of early retirement are available for specific categories of workers.

Survivor and disability pensions are also provided under the statutory system.

Participation rate:At the end of 2025, about 39.9% of Italian labour force (around 10.4 million people) had some kind of supplementary pension.
 
Negotiated pension funds – FPN (Fondi Pensione Negoziali):

These are pension funds created by agreements between companies and unions. Membership depends on your work sector, company, or professional category.

Examples:

  • Perseo Sirio: for public-sector workers (municipalities, healthcare, etc.).
  • Espero: for people working in education.
  • Cometa: for workers in the metalworking industry and similar sectors.
Participation: voluntary / mandatory?

Participation in supplementary pensions is generally optional.

However, from 1 July 2026, new automatic-enrolment rules apply to private-sector employees hired from that date. In particular, workers taking up their first private-sector employment have 60 days to opt out, choose another pension arrangement or decide to keep their TFR Trattamento di Fine Rapporto (the lump sum payment normally received at the end of employment) with the employer.

If they make no choice, they are automatically enrolled in the applicable supplementary pension arrangement. Specific rules also apply to workers who already participated in a supplementary pension arrangement in a previous job.

This automatic rule does not apply to:

  • domestic workers (cleaners, carers, babysitters working in private homes).
  • public-sector employees (for them, automatic enrolment can be decided by collective agreements).
Tax advantages:

From 2026, contributions to supplementary pensions can generally be deducted from taxable income up to an annual ceiling of €5,300 per year.

This limit includes contributions from the worker and the employer, but not the TFR transferred to the fund.

In some cases (for example, for people starting their first job), the limit can be higher.

Individual pension products can be classified as the third pillar, although legally they form part of the same Italian previdenza complementare framework as occupational pension funds.
FPA – Fondo Pensione Aperto (Open Pension Fund):
  • Created by a bank, an asset-management company, an investment firm, or an insurance company.
  • The fund’s assets are separate from those of the bank or company that created it.
  • Anyone can join, regardless of their job.
  • Membership can be:
  • individual (chosen by the person).
  • collective (based on a company or union agreement).

Private-sector employees can direct their future TFR to an FPA.

If membership is collective, the employer may also pay the contribution provided by the collective agreement.

If the worker chooses an individual arrangement, they usually lose the right to the employer’s contribution.

PIP – Piano Individuale Pensionistico (Individual Pension Plan):
  • An individual pension product based on a life-insurance contract, offered by an insurance company.
  • Anyone can join, regardless of their job.
  • Membership is only individual.
  • Private-sector employees can direct their TFR to a PIP, but only by making an explicit individual choice.
  • Because it is an individual product, joining a PIP does not give the right to an employer contribution.
Tax advantages:

From 2026, contributions to supplementary pensions can generally be deducted from taxable income up to an annual ceiling of €5,300 per year.

This limit includes contributions from the worker and the employer, but not the TFR transferred to the fund.

In some cases (for example, for people starting their first job), the limit can be higher.

Single tracking system (Pension Tracking System):Italy does not yet have a single system that shows each person all their pensions (state + supplementary) in one place. There are separate tools.
State pension – “La mia pensione futura”:

INPS offers an online service called “La mia pensione futura” (“My future pension”).

It allows you to simulate your state pension based on:

  • age
  • years of contributions
  • salary
  •  

It also shows a possible retirement date and lets you test different earning scenarios.

It covers only the state pension, not supplementary ones.

Supplementary pensions:

Members of a pension fund receive information directly from their fund.

Each year they get a document (“Prospetto delle prestazioni pensionistiche – fase di accumulo”) showing:

  • how much they have accumulated;
  • an estimate of the supplementary pension they can expect.
  •  

This information applies only to that fund and does not include other pensions or the state pension.

Public information portal:

In May 2026, the Ministry of Labour launched the Portale sulla Previdenza Complementare. It is a national website with information, guides, educational material, and tools on supplementary pensions. It helps people understand the system better and make informed choices.

In short:
Italy has several useful tools to inform citizens about pensions, but there is not yet a single integrated system showing both state and supplementary pension rights together.