The statutory pension, in outline

Employees pay into Germany’s statutory pension system. A standard old-age pension usually requires a five-year qualifying period and the applicable retirement age. That age is 67 for people born in 1964 or later; it rises in steps for those born earlier. Contributions can be refunded only in certain cases.

In short

• Employees, and people in vocational training, pay compulsory contributions into the statutory pension. The contribution is not income tax, and the tax class does not set it.
• A standard old-age pension needs the standard age and 5 years of waiting time. Section 50 sets that general waiting period at five years, which is 60 months. Insurance periods from an EU or EEA state, Switzerland, or a country with a social-security agreement can be added together (Zusammenrechnung) to meet it. The standard age is 67. People born before 1 January 1964 keep a lower age that rises in steps from 65. Ask Deutsche Rentenversicherung which age applies to your year of birth.
• A Minijob exemption gives up compulsory contribution periods. Those months do not play the same part in this waiting period.
• A refund under section 210 is on application and only in the cases the section lists. The 24-month wait applies to the no-compulsory-insurance / no-voluntary-insurance case and the separate cases in subsection 1a, but not to the standard-age or survivor cases. The usual refund covers contributions you bore; half of certain contributions, including transition-band employment, is refunded instead. Previous pension-insurance benefits can limit the refundable contributions. A refund dissolves the German insurance relationship, and you cannot limit the application to a few months.
• A right to insure voluntarily blocks the first refund case in section 210. For foreign nationals who move abroad, that right depends on nationality and on the country of residence. Deutsche Rentenversicherung decides. A German pension can be paid abroad. This page does not state a reduction for any country.

What you need to know

Section 1 of Social Code Book VI makes people who work for pay, and people in vocational training, compulsory members of statutory pension insurance. The contribution is part of the social insurance taken from wages. It is separate from income tax and is not set by your tax class. See the salary and tax-class guide for wage-tax withholding.

A standard old-age pension, under section 35, requires the Regelaltersgrenze and the general waiting period. Section 50 sets that period at 5 years, which is 60 months. Insurance periods from an EU or EEA state, from Switzerland, or from a country with a social-security agreement with Germany can be added together (Zusammenrechnung) to meet that waiting period.

Deutsche Rentenversicherung’s brochure for foreign skilled workers states that European law, which covers the EU, the EEA, and Switzerland, and the social-security agreements, can count foreign periods toward a German pension. Periods from a country with neither arrangement are not counted. The June 2026 refund brochure also says foreign periods can be credited toward the waiting period.

The standard age is 67. Section 235 keeps a lower age for people born before 1 January 1964 and raises it in steps from 65. Someone born in 1964 or later uses 67. Deutsche Rentenversicherung applies your year. This page does not reprint the table. Earlier pensions, including those after 35 or 45 years, have their own waiting periods. They are not this pension under another name.

Deutsche Rentenversicherung says a German pension can be paid abroad, but the country you move to can affect your entitlement, the amount and your health insurance. Ask the pension insurer how a move would affect you.

An earnings-limited Minijob is a special case. The Minijob page explains that pension insurance is generally the default for that form and that you can ask to be exempted, which gives up compulsory contribution periods. Those months then do not play the same part in this waiting period. Qualifying short-term Minijobs have different insurance rules.

Separate statutory, company and private provision

This guide covers statutory pension insurance and its pension or contribution-refund decision. A company pension is a separate employment arrangement, including salary conversion. Private retirement products are separate contracts or investments; that guide also explains the transition to new subsidised products from 2027.

Keep a separate record of each institution, contract number and entitlement. Before moving abroad, ask each one about continuing contributions, payouts, taxation and address updates; a Deutsche Rentenversicherung application does not automatically claim a company or private contract’s benefit.

What to do

1. Keep the social-insurance number and the payslips that show pension contributions. When you leave a job, the insurer already has the employer’s reports. You do not file those reports again with the Bürgeramt.

2. Ask Deutsche Rentenversicherung which age applies to your year of birth and whether you have completed the 5-year qualifying period. Completing it creates a standard old-age pension entitlement once you meet the age condition. It does not by itself rule out every contribution refund. The pension amount depends on your contributions; ask the insurer for a calculation.

3. Deregister the address on the leaving page when you give up your home in Germany. That Abmeldung does not apply for a pension and does not request a refund. It updates the population register.

4. Consider a refund only if section 210 fits. Contributions are refunded on application to people who are no longer compulsorily insured and have no right to insure voluntarily, to people who have reached the standard age without completing the general waiting period, and to some survivors. Deutsche Rentenversicherung’s commentary applies the wait of at least 24 calendar months since compulsory insurance ended, with no new compulsory insurance before the application, to the first case and to the separate insurance-exempt cases in subsection 1a.

   The standard-age case and the survivor case in subsection 1 numbers 2 and 3 do not require that wait.

   Normally the refund covers contributions you bore yourself, not the employer’s own share; if a net wage was agreed, the employee share paid by the employer is refunded. Section 210(3) instead refunds half of certain contributions, including contributions for employment in the transition band under section 20(2) of Book IV, voluntary contributions and self-employed contributions.

   If pension insurance has already provided a benefit in cash or in kind, only contributions paid after that benefit are refundable under section 210(5).

   You cannot limit the application to a few months. The refund dissolves the previous German insurance relationship. Claims arising from all pension-relevant periods completed up to the refund cease, including periods whose contributions are not refunded. Ask Deutsche Rentenversicherung for a calculation and an individual explanation of the rights affected before applying.

5. Use Deutsche Rentenversicherung’s form for a claim from abroad, and send the proof of nationality it asks for. The insurer’s brochure says that, for foreign nationals who move abroad, the right to pay voluntary contributions depends on nationality and on the country of residence. Germans who live abroad may insure voluntarily under section 7. A right to insure voluntarily blocks the first refund case in section 210. This page does not list countries. The insurer decides.

Common mistakes

• Expecting an ordinary refund of both your share and your employer’s share, or assuming all periods remain available afterwards. Section 210 has special half-refund rules. A refund ends claims arising from all pension-relevant periods completed up to it, including periods whose contributions are not refunded. Ask the insurer to assess your record.
• Assuming every nationality can, or cannot, insure voluntarily from abroad. The brochure says that right depends on nationality and on where you live. Ask Deutsche Rentenversicherung before you file.
• Treating a Minijob exemption as if those months were full compulsory periods. The exemption gives them up. Read the Minijob page before you sign it.
• Assuming there is one flat pension amount for everyone. The insurer calculates yours from your record.