All retirement pensions will increase next year. Retirees will receive on average 400 euros more than in 2024.
In a tense political context, Prime Minister Michel Barnier triggered article 49.3 of the Constitution to have the 2025 finance bill adopted without a vote. In response, deputies voted for a motion of censure, causing the fall of the government. This unprecedented situation leaves France uncertain about its budget for the coming year.
If this news has not escaped anyone in France, its consequences are less perceptible. Many media here and there relayed the information according to which retirees were going to be the big winners of the motion of censure. Indeed, their retirement pension could increase more sharply than expected on January 1, 2025. But by how much? The JDN did the calculation.
The finance bill initially provided for an under-indexation of retirement pensions. This measure consisted of limiting the increase in pensions to 0.8% on January 1 for all retirees, or 17 million people. While the average amount of a retirement pension in France is 1,512 euros net per month, the measure would have allowed retirees to pocket an average of 12.10 euros more each month. In total, retirees would have earned 145.2 euros over the year. A second increase of 0.8% was scheduled for July 1, but only for retirees receiving a pension below the minimum wage. Thus, a retiree with a pension of 1,000 euros would have earned 1,008 euros per month from January to July 2025, then a little more than 1,016 euros per month from July to December.
However, the overthrow of the government by the motion of censure results in an unprecedented situation. In the absence of a Social Security financing bill (PLFSS), the Social Security Code automatically applies. More precisely article L161-25. “This provides for an annual revaluation of pensions based on inflation recorded from November 2023 to October 2024”, explains to our colleagues in Le Monde, Dominique Libault, president of the High Council for the Financing of Social Protection. According to INSEE data, inflation excluding tobacco over this period amounts to 2.2%.
With such an increase on January 1, 2025, the average retirement pension in France would increase from 1,512 to 1,545 euros net per month, or almost 400 euros additional per year. A retiree receiving a pension of 2,000 euros net monthly will thus be able to pocket 44 euros more every month, or an additional gain of 528 euros per year. Finally, a pensioner receiving a pension lower than the minimum wage will also benefit from this increase. If he receives a retirement pension of 1,000 euros in 2024, he will see his monthly payment increase to 1,022 euros.
