On July 1st, pensioners in Germany will receive such a sharp increase in their payments as they have not done in decades. With the draft law by Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD), the Bundestag also passed improvements for people who have been drawing disability pensions for a long time. The law was passed on Friday with the votes of the coalition, the Union and the AfD.

The rise in pensions would actually have been even higher due to the significant increase in wages in 2021 – but this is prevented by the so-called catch-up factor. It ensures that pensions remain stable even if there should have been a mathematical reduction, like in 2021. As a result, upcoming increases will be lower thereafter.

A pension guarantee resulted in a zero round in 2021 – despite the negative after-effects of the Corona slump in the previous year on the pension fund.

There are also other corrections to the pension calculation that are intended to dampen strong fluctuations. Improvements in disability pensions were also decided on Friday. The three million recipients of this service are to receive up to 7.5 percent more money from 2024. There is also a flat-rate surcharge for certain groups.