Germany Approves 4.24% Statutory Pension Increase

Overview

• The Federal Cabinet set a 4.24% increase to the current pension value, raising it from €40.79 to €42.52 and applying the change from 1 July 2026 once Bundesrat approval and final publication occur.
• Deutsche Rentenversicherung will send individual Rentenanpassungsmitteilungen from mid‑June to the end of July 2026 that show each recipient’s new gross amount, the first payment date, and any deductions; no application is normally needed.
• Because the Erwerbsminderungszuschlag was folded into running pensions on 1 December 2025, that higher own pension can be counted as income for survivor pensions from 1 July 2026 and may reduce some widow and widower payments after the standard pauschalabzug and Freibetrag are applied.
• A separate procedural reform taking effect 1 January 2027 will let the pension insurer automatically request missing employer reports and provisionally extrapolate up to three months for new pension starts, with later recalculation and possible back payments, and it will not raise existing pensions.
• Recipients should read their Rentenanpassungsmitteilung carefully, check the stated income, pauschalabzug and Freibetrag figures, contact Deutsche Rentenversicherung if something looks wrong, and consider a Widerspruch when calculations appear incorrect.