Most members of Germany’s baby-boomer generation who began drawing an old-age pension in 2025 retired before reaching the standard retirement age, according to a study by the German Economic Institute (IW). The report found that only 37% of people born in 1958 started receiving an old-age pension at the regular age, after excluding those who had previously received a full disability pension.
Nearly seven million baby boomers were receiving an old-age pension in 2025, the study found. More than half of the relevant age groups had retired before reaching the retirement age, which is gradually rising to 67. In 2023, around 4.5 million baby boomers had started receiving an old-age pension.
Among people born in 1958, 27% took early retirement without deductions under the provision for people with 45 years of insurance contributions. A further 18% received an early pension with deductions after at least 35 years of contributions. Overall, 1.1 million people born between 1960 and 1963 drew an old-age pension in 2025 before reaching the standard retirement age.
The future of early retirement without deductions is under discussion in Germany’s governing coalition of the CDU/CSU and SPD. The options for retiring early are expected to be addressed in a broader pension reform, but the extent of any restrictions remains unsettled.
The IW said only 3% of people born in 1958 received no statutory old-age pension. It attributed the broad coverage in part to the low eligibility threshold: a five-year insurance record is enough to qualify. The institute urged the government to use the current opportunity for pension reform, warning that without changes to early retirement, population ageing would shift more of the burden to contributors and taxpayers.
Sources: Handelsblatt.