The Public Pension Agency (PPA) paid out SR 44.59 billion to pensioners and their beneficiaries last year, 15.5 percent more than in 2011.

The total amount in pensions distributed by the PPA since its inception now stands at SR 395.72 billion, the PPA's 2012 annual report said.

The total number of retired people in 2012 stood at 571,367 employees, while 142,204 pensioners had died. There was an increase of 34,168 pensioners, a 6 percent rise compared to 2011.

“The PPA plays a significant role in maintaining social tranquility and contributing to the guaranteed social protection of its subscribers,” PPA Governor Muhammad Al-Kharashi said in the preface of the report.

Since 2006, the agency has also offered insurance protection to citizens of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.

The PPA hosted the 12th conference of the GCC’s civil pension and social insurance agencies in Riyadh in 2012, he said.

The number of beneficiaries who received pensions on a regular basis stood at 375,588 at the end of 2012. A total of 151,672 daughters of pensioners received payouts after the deaths of their fathers.

An amount of SR 7.65 billion was paid to 172,962 pensioners in lump sums, the report said.

A civil pension is calculated at 2.5 percent of the last drawn basic salary of an employee. It is calculated at 40 percent of the last salary if an employee dies or becomes incapacitated during his service period but not because of a work-related incident. If the death or physical incapacitation occurred in the line of duty, the pension is calculated at 80 percent of the last salary.

A normal military pension is calculated at 2.86 percent of the last salary drawn by an officer. If an officer dies or is incapacitated from causes not related to his service, his pension is calculated on the basis of 70 percent of his salary. But if the death or incapacitation occurs in the line of duty, his pension will be 80 percent of the last salary.

The report also pointed out that there were 527,417 retired men at the end of 2012, accounting for 92.3 percent of the total number of pensioners while there were 43,950 women pensioners. The number of men pensioners increased by 5.6 percent and women pensioners by 16.6 percent compared to the previous year.