Page 78 - economic report 2021

3.4. Pension branch of the CASS

Revenue from contributions in the pension branch saw a slight increase of 0.9% in 2021, to
€142.2 million, representing a recovery from the decline in the previous year. In parallel, growth in
expenditure on benefits accelerated, with an increase of 7.9%, bringing the total to €121.8 million.
As a result, the surplus in this branch shrank to a historic low of €24.8 million.

Any surplus from contributions produced in In 2021, the number of ret rees
the pensions branch of the CASS is paid into collect ng a pension increased 5.9%,
the pension reserve fund, created in 2015 for
management and financial efficiency, with the to 13,350.
sole purpose of covering the future pensions
of people who have contributed to the CASS. At the end of 2021, the fund’s reserves were
€1,586 million, 8.4% more than in the previous year, a variation that includes the contribution
from the CASS and the return obtained from management of the fund.

The rise in expenditure on benefits in 2021 can partly be explained by a 5.9% increase in the
number of retirement pensions (compared with 4.8% in 2020), reaching a total of 13,350 individuals
in December. In parallel, the number of pensioners with higher contributions and lengthier times
in the system is increasing progressively, as the pension system matures. On the other hand,
the dependency ratio (active/passive ratio) reached 3.33 in December 2021, representing an
improvement from the 3.12 recorded one year earlier.

Finally, a study of the pensions system commissioned by the CASS and prepared in 2021, with
data at the end of 2020, concludes that there are insufficient funds in the pension branch for
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2024. As soon as the technical balance of the pension branch becomes negative, the government
will have to start to finance the deficit and use the reserves, which would run out in 2039.

The Andorran economy: general developments | VIII. The public sector