Retire early and you lose €162 a month on average
People in Germany who retire before the regular retirement age are giving up more and more money. In 2025 the average deduction for an early old age pension was 162 euros a month, up from 103 euros in 2020. That is an increase of about 57 percent. The figures come from the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, in reply to a written question from the Left party group in the Bundestag.
Who is affected: the share of old age pensions paid with deductions rose from 23.4 percent in 2020 to 30.4 percent in 2025. Most of them are people who retire early after 35 years of insurance. Early pensions for people with severe disabilities are also counted.
Why the amount keeps growing: the rule itself has not changed. For every month a pension starts before the regular age, it is cut by 0.3 percent, and the cut stays for life. But people who retire early also miss the yearly pension increases, so the cut in euros keeps getting bigger. The regular retirement age is rising step by step to 67, which makes the gap longer for many people. The government is also discussing ending the option to retire without deductions after 45 years of contributions, but no decision has been taken yet.
What you can do: from the age of 50 you can ask the German Pension Insurance (Deutsche Rentenversicherung) for a special pension statement that shows your expected deduction. With that statement you can make extra payments to reduce or fully cancel the deduction. Ask for this statement before you choose your start date, because a deduction cannot be removed once your pension has started.