The differences are so great New analysis shows retirees earn significantly less
July 12, 2026, 9:59 am
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About 60 percent of pensioners receive almost 3,000 euros per month. SplitFollow along:
Pensions for civil servants are significantly higher than pensions. The Bundestag’s new assessment makes this gap visible, but also shows how difficult it is to compare the two systems.
Pensions and pensions in Germany vary significantly – and not just in terms of the average amount. A new report from the Bundestag’s scientific service for the left shows big differences. The average benefit for approximately 20 million old-age pensioners at the end of 2024 was €1,154 per month. At the beginning of 2025, 1.4 million public sector pensioners received an average pension of €3,416 gross per month. However, the two systems are so different that it is “difficult” to compare civil servants’ pensions and pension insurance, the parliamentary service says.
The list, requested by left-wing pensions expert Sarah Wollath, provides an overview of employee pension rights and public sector pensions. The left has long campaigned against the controversy and for employment insurance, which, among other things, must pay government workers.
Figures show: About 60 percent of the 1.3 million former civil servants and judges receive a monthly gross pension of at least 3,000 euros. Gross means before taxes and before your own health and long-term care insurance premiums. 8 percent, 111,206 people, receive more than €5,000 gross per month. Only about 7 percent receive the maximum of 2,000 euros (as of 2025).
In contrast, about 37 percent of the old-age pensions of those with compulsory health insurance are less than €900 (2025). About 17 percent of pension benefit amounts are between €900 and €1,200 – the largest group being €3.2 million. About 16 percent are between 1,200 and 1,500 euros per month, just under 13 percent between 1,500 and 1,800 and 17 percent between 1,800 euros and above. These values are before taxes, but after deducting health insurance and long-term care contributions.
Services are not comparable
However, independent Bundestag experts, citing the Federal Social Court, note that due to the large differences between the two systems, there is no “comparability of results” from the outset. Thus, civil servants usually have a full length of service.
Many pensioners are different: these figures include, for example, pensions of former mini-jobbers or mothers who had breaks from work. According to the Science Service, uneven employment experiences lead to “systematically lower averages.” The “total supply system financed by taxes” is opposed to the solidarity system financed by contributions. Possible additional income from persons receiving a mini-pension is not included in the stated pension amounts.
Left-wing politician Vollat criticized the “privilege of providing civil servants.” The pension commission was to address the “fairness gap” between civil servants and employees. She also calculated how long a worker would have to work for a monthly pension equal to the average civil servant’s pension if he or she received the average salary – the result: 80 years.
The committee presented a major pension reform proposal on behalf of the black-red federal government. The Commission supports the concept of employment insurance, but opposes early inclusion of civil servants.