Greece’s pension system has become a flash point in the new government’s talks with its international creditors. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has vowed to fight more cuts to the system, while Greece’s creditors say more cuts are probably necessary to ensure the government can pay its bills.

Before dealing with that question, they’ll need some facts about Greece’s baroque pension system. At first glance, it might seem too generous. But dig a little deeper, and the picture becomes more complicated.

First, how much does Greece spend as percentage of GDP on pensions? The data from Eurostat looks like this as of 2012, with Greece expenditure easily highest in the eurozone as a percentage of GDP:

But part of that is due to the collapse in GDP suffered by Greece during the crisis. Suppose you look at pension expenditure as a percentage of potential GDP, the level of economic output were eurozone economies running at full capacity:

Greece is still near the top, though it’s not so far from the eurozone average. Moreover, Greece's high spending is largely the result of bad demographics: 20% of Greeks are over age 65, one of the highest percentages in the eurozone. What if instead you attempt to adjust for that by looking at pension spending per person over 65 (see note below):