A gazette released by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MHRSS) on Monday shows that in 2015, the income of China’s social security exceeded that of expenditures and the cumulative pension balance at the end of 2015 reached nearly 4 trillion yuan ($606.6 billion).

According to the gazette, the total income of the five types of social security, including the pension scheme for urban and rural residents, was increased by 618.4 billion yuan to 4.6 trillion yuan in 2015, indicating a 15.5 percent growth rate. Expenditures for the insurance fund were 3.9 trillion yuan, 598.5 billion yuan more than that in the previous year.

The pension fund, which is a primary concern of the general public, is not in deficit as speculated. The overall outlay of the pension fund in 2015 was 2.8 trillion yuan while the income was 3.2 trillion yuan.

Though generally sufficient in the capital pool, the pension fund has experienced a 19.7 percent growth in spending whereas income has only increased by 16.6 percent, according to the gazette. Experts believe the rise in expenditures may be triggered by improved pension treatment.

Since Jan. 1, 2015, pensions issued to retired personnel from enterprises was increased by 10 percent. The MHRSS adjusted the basic pension amount for 79.7 million retirees across the country to a monthly average of 2,200 yuan per person.

The gazette also first revealed that the total number of civil servants in China is 7.2 million.