This page is for people who work in Italy and are thinking about their pension, for people of retirement age who moved from Ukraine, and for those who receive a Ukrainian pension abroad.
Who is entitled to an Italian old-age pension?
You need to reach the retirement age and have at least 20 years of contributions. The age rises from 2027:
| Year | Retirement age | Contribution record |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 67 years | at least 20 years |
| 2027 | 67 years and 1 month | at least 20 years |
| 2028 | 67 years and 3 months | at least 20 years |
An employee must stop working as an employee to receive the pension; self-employed people do not have to. For some arduous occupations, with a record of 30 years or more, the age remains 66 years and 7 months or 67 years.
If your first contribution was paid on 1 January 1996 or later, there is one more condition besides the 20 years of record: the pension must be no lower than the amount of the social allowance (assegno sociale). For these people there is another option: a pension from age 71 (in 2027 from 71 years and 1 month, in 2028 from 71 years and 3 months) with 5 years of actual contributions.
Can you retire earlier?
Yes, with a long contribution record, regardless of age. In 2026 you need 42 years and 10 months of contributions for men or 41 years and 10 months for women; the pension starts being paid 3 months after the condition is met. In 2027 you need one month more (42 years and 11 months, and 41 years and 11 months), and in 2028, 43 years and 1 month, and 42 years and 1 month.
For those whose first contribution was paid on 1 January 1996 or later, there is another route: in 2026 from age 64 with 20 years of actual contributions, in 2027 from 64 years and 1 month with 20 years and 1 month, in 2028 from 64 years and 3 months with 20 years and 3 months. The conditions of this route:
- you must stop working as an employee;
- the first monthly pension payment must be at least three times the monthly amount of the assegno sociale; for women with one child, 2.8 times, and with two or more children, 2.6 times;
- the pension starts being paid 3 months after the conditions are met.
Will your Ukrainian work record count?
No. There is no social security agreement between Italy and Ukraine. The official 2026 INPS list of non-EU countries with which Italy has such agreements includes, for example, Moldova and Albania, but not Ukraine. Italy is not on the Pension Fund of Ukraine’s list of international agreements.
INPS counts a foreign work record only when an agreement between the countries provides for it. So you will have to build up the 20 years for an Italian pension without your Ukrainian years.
What is the assegno sociale and who gets it?
The assegno sociale is a social allowance for people aged 67 and over with a low income. In 2026 it is €546.24 a month and is paid 13 times a year. Annual income must be below €7,101.12 for an unmarried person or €14,202.24 for a married person.
Conditions:
- age 67;
- low income;
- actually living in Italy;
- at least 10 years of legal and continuous stay in Italy;
- for citizens of non-EU countries, an EU long-term residence permit (or refugee status or subsidiary protection).
Temporary protection is not among these grounds. Moreover, people who came to Italy in 2022 will be able to complete 10 years of legal stay no earlier than 2032.
The allowance cannot be received abroad: if you are abroad for more than 29 days in a row, it is suspended, and if for more than a year, it is canceled.
What happens to your Ukrainian pension?
The Pension Fund of Ukraine (PFU) pays a pension to people who live abroad temporarily only into an account at a Ukrainian bank, and only if they complete physical identification every year by 31 December. The PFU also counts among people living abroad temporarily those who received temporary protection abroad because of Russia’s aggression, but only until they obtain documents for permanent residence abroad. There is no official clarification of whether an Italian work permit or an EU long-term residence permit obtained by switching from temporary protection will count as such a document; in our opinion, this may change how the pension is paid, so check with the PFU before you switch.
You can complete identification:
- online on the PFU web portal or in its mobile app with Diia.Signature;
- by video call with a PFU employee (Google Meet, Signal, Telegram, Viber, WhatsApp or Zoom), booking online or through the contact center on 0800 503 753;
- through a Ukrainian embassy or consulate, which certifies that the person is alive; the document is sent to the PFU.
Without identification, pension payments are stopped. To receive your pension in 2027, you must complete identification by 31 December 2026.
What happens if you get permanent residence in Italy?
Under the pension insurance law, before you move abroad for permanent residence, your pension can be paid six months in advance at your request. The second sentence of this article of the law (Art. 51), under which a pension is paid abroad only if an international treaty provides for it, was declared unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court of Ukraine in decision No. 25-rp/2009 of 7 October 2009; the rule that stopped payment for the whole time a person lives abroad also lost force.
However, PFU pages published in 2018 and 2024 still say that a pension can be paid abroad only if there is a bilateral social security agreement, and that after the six-month advance payment, payment in Ukraine stops. Italy is not on the list of such agreements. The PFU pages do not separately explain how the PFU pays pensions to people who live permanently in countries without an agreement. Before you get permanent residence in Italy, check with the PFU how your pension will be paid.
How is a Ukrainian pension taxed?
We do not give a final answer. The convention between Italy and Ukraine for the avoidance of double taxation says that pensions for past employment are taxed only in the country of residence, and payments from a state pension fund of the social security system only in the country that pays them; the protocol to the convention clarifies that this refers to non-contributory payments. An employment pension from the PFU is built from contributions, so it is doubtful whether it falls under the “only in Ukraine” rule; there is no official clarification. Read about taxes on the page Taxes in Italy.
What mistakes should you avoid?
- Expecting years of work in Ukraine to help you reach 20 years for an Italian pension: there is no agreement.
- Counting on the assegno sociale with temporary protection: you need an EU long-term residence permit and 10 years of legal stay.
- Missing the annual identification with the PFU by 31 December.
- Getting permanent residence in Italy without checking with the PFU how your Ukrainian pension will be paid.
- Leaving Italy for more than 29 days in a row while receiving the assegno sociale.
What has not yet been officially confirmed?
Several questions have not yet been officially clarified:
- whether the age for the assegno sociale will rise in 2027, as it will for the pension;
- how the PFU pays pensions to people who live permanently in countries without a social security agreement, after the 2009 Constitutional Court decision;
- whether the PFU considers an Italian work permit or an EU long-term residence permit to be a document for permanent residence abroad;
- how a pension from the PFU is taxed in Italy.
We will update this page as soon as clarifications appear.