A new pension calculation is currently being prepared by the Federal Ministry of Labor. This should prevent large fluctuations in pension increases in the next two years, according to a report in the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung". A spokesman for the ministry confirmed on Saturday that changes were planned.
Actually, the 21 million retirees in Germany could expect in the coming year with a particularly strong increase in their pensions by about five percent, according to the report. By contrast, in the following year 2021, the increase would be very small.
The reason for this is a statistical special effect: in the current year, the so-called national accounts (VGR) of the Federal Statistical Office were updated on a regular basis. National accounts cover data such as gross domestic product and national income. According to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the values for wage development in recent years have been revised upwards by this revision, which could drive the pension adjustment in 2020 unusually strong. In 2021, however, it would probably only be a minimal increase.
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The ministry spokesman said that this would undermine the principle for 2020 and 2021 that pension adjustment always follows wage development: "Pre-audit numbers are compared to post-revision numbers." With the planned change, the government ensures that the pension adjustment will be geared to wage developments in the future, irrespective of statistical effects.
Experts had predicted in August that pensions could rise by three percent or even more in the coming year. Pension benefits in West Germany had increased by 3.18 percent as of July 1, and by 3.91 percent in the east. By 2018, pensions had gone up 3.22 percent in the West and 3.37 percent in the East.
