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Official information and services: belgium.be Belgian Federal Public Services

How is my pension amount as a civil servant calculated?

The government has reached an agreement on the pension reform.
  • We are adapting the overview on our webpage Pension reform as fast as possible.
  • These decisions are currently being converted into legislation and because of this, we do not have all the details yet.
  • Therefore, we cannot as yet inform you about the exact conditions or whether you qualify.
  • As soon as a definitive text is published:
    • we will automatically apply this new legislation to your future pension;
    • we will adapt our website and mypension.be,
    • you will find this text at our webpage Pension reform.

You do not have to do anything.

For every year you work as an established civil servant, you build up a pension. Performances that count towards your pension are called 'admissible services'. The Pensions Service calculates your civil service pension on the basis of:

  • your reference pay;
  • the total admissible services and the periods of absence we consider as worked periods (assimilation);
  • your career fraction.
Pension amount = admissible services and periods X reference pay X career fraction

You do not have to calculate your pension amount yourself. At mypension.be, we do this for you!

The steps of the pension calculation

Step 1: which services count towards my civil service pension?

In the first place, performances as an established staff member in the public service are taken into account for your civil service pension.

Your contractual and temporary performances can be taken into account, but specific rules apply. The obligatory military service is also taken into account.

Step 2: are my periods of absence taken into account?

The following periods of absence can be taken into account:

  • periods of absence with full pay;
  • periods during which you remained attached to the civil service on a non-active basis insofar you received a reduced pay;
  • unpaid periods of absence we consider as periods of active service (assimilation);
  • periods of total or partial career interruption, periods of half-time employment and periods of absence within the scope of the four-day week and the Flemish care credit. Specific rules apply to these periods;
  • periods of unpaid leave we do not consider as active service. This leave is taken into account for at most one month per calendar year.

Step 3: is my degree taken into account?

Until 30.11.2017, your study periods were taken into account for the calculation of your civil service pension for free. This was called the 'diploma indemnification'. This free diploma indemnification was only possible if the degree you obtained was required for:

  • the position in which you were definitively established or appointed;
    or
  • a later appointment.
    and
  • was obtained in 'full-time education'.

Did your pension start on or after 1 December 2018? In that case, your diploma indemnification is no longer free. In a number of cases, the free diploma indemnification is partially or fully maintained.

If, in the other cases, you want to have your study periods that were needed to obtain your degree count towards the calculation of your pension, you have to pay a regularisation contribution. We call this 'buying off study years' or regularising.

You can also buy off study years that were needed to obtain a degree that does not entitle one to free indemnification.

Step 4: what is my reference pay?

Your reference pay is the average wage of your:

  • ten last career years;
    or
  • entire career if it is shorter than ten years.

Transitional measure: you were born before 1 January 1962? In this case, your reference pay is the average wage of your five last career years (or of your entire career if it does not count five years).

There are also exceptions.

What is my career fraction?

Your career fraction represents the part of your reference pay that we take into account for every year as an established civil servant in the calculation of your pension. The most frequent career fraction for the pension calculation in the civil service scheme is 1/60. For some civil servants, the legislation provides a more advantageous career fraction than 1/60.

For your career years from 1 January 2012, all career fractions that are more advantageous than 1/48 are replaced by the career fraction 1/48.
Exception: you were born before 1 January 1957? In that case, you maintain your right to the more advantageous career fraction than 1/48.

The limitation of the pension amount

Your retirement pension in the civil service scheme is limited to the absolute and relative maximum.

The possible extra allowances on top of your pension amount

The guaranteed minimum

If your retirement pension falls below the guaranteed minimum pension amount, we can add an extra 'guaranteed minimum' allowance to make your pension amount reach the guaranteed minimum amount.

You can receive this guaranteed minimum amount of you were retired due to:

  • age limit or seniority;
  • physical incapacity.

You can only receive the guaranteed minimum for a pension that stems from a main office. If you have incomplete career years, we reduce the extra guaranteed minimum allowance.

The extra 'severe disability' allowance

Are you severely disabled? In this case, you can receive an extra 'severe disability' allowance next to your pension.

On 1 March 2026, this extra allowance amounts to 219,21 EUR gross a month (at index 2,1647).

You do not have to calculate your pension amount yourself. At mypension.be, we do this for you!