Pension increases 2027: what indexation and the transition mean for your scheme

This article is about the Netherlands. In Belgium pensions are increased in a different way, through the pivot index (spilindex). I have written it mainly for employers and HR, because the question "will my pension go up?" often reaches you in December. Employees and pensioners will find their answer here too.

Which pensions go up in 2027?

For each fund you only know for certain once the fund itself reports it. There are now two groups. Funds that are already in the new system adjust pensions every year based on their results up to and including 30 September. Funds that make the transition on 1 January 2027 distribute their assets at that moment, and the increase comes out of that distribution.

Source: the funds' own websites. PFZW, "Pensioenkoers"; PMT, quarterly reports of 13 May and 13 August 2026; ABP, news item of 3 November 2026; PME, "Nieuwe regels voor pensioen"; Pensioenfonds Detailhandel, news item of 2 November 2026. Consulted on 6 November 2026.

In the news you will see higher percentages these weeks for the funds that have yet to make the transition. Those are calculations by a consultancy based on current funding ratios, not decisions by the funds. That is why I do not repeat them here. The notice from your own fund is the only figure you can rely on.

How much will the ABP pension go up in 2027?

ABP itself does not give a fixed percentage. The fund intends to move to its renewed scheme on 1 January 2027 and will then distribute its entire pension assets. How much there is to distribute depends mainly on the funding ratio on 31 December 2026. At the end of September it stood at 132.2 percent.

According to ABP, with a funding ratio above 109 percent everyone receives an allowance for increases that were not granted in the past, plus an extra increase. The more indexation someone has missed, the higher the allowance. The outcome therefore differs per person and cannot be derived one to one from the funding ratio.

For those already receiving an ABP pension: the payment for January 2027 has not yet been adjusted. In February the first payment under the new rules follows, with a back payment for January where needed. ABP will publish the funding ratio of 31 December at the end of January 2027.

What is pension indexation?

Indexation means that a pension grows in line with prices or wages. Without indexation the amount in euros stays the same and buys a little less every year. Funds also call it a supplement (toeslagverlening) or simply an increase.

In the old system the fund's board decided on it every year, within statutory limits. De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB, the Dutch central bank) summarises those limits as follows: only with a funding ratio above 110 percent was a fund allowed to index pensions in full or in part. Between 104 and 110 percent there was no indexation, and below that the fund had to take measures. In the run-up to the new system those rules were temporarily relaxed, so that funds could also grant increases at a lower funding ratio.

That is why many pensioners saw little or no increase for years. PME shows this clearly on its own website: on 1 January 2025 pensions rose by 0.30 percent, while prices had risen by 2.71 percent.

How does an increase work in the new pension system?

After the transition the funding ratio is no longer the yardstick. DNB writes that the funding ratio then no longer determines whether benefits go up or down. The pension has become a defined contribution scheme: it moves with investment results and with interest rates.

A fund with a solidarity-based contribution scheme (solidaire premieregeling) adjusts benefits once a year. Two examples of how this works in practice:

• PFZW looks at the results from 1 October up to and including 30 September and publishes its "Pensioenkoers" during the year, an expectation of the adjustment on 1 January.
• PMT works with a smoothing balance (spreidingsvermogen). One third of the position on 30 September ends up in the benefit. At a position of 1.6 percent at the end of June that came to a rounded 0.5 percent.

Windfalls and setbacks are therefore spread over several years. In addition, a solidarity-based scheme has a solidarity reserve of at most 15 percent of the assets. A fund can use it to absorb a fall. That makes a reduction less likely, but not impossible. PFZW says so plainly: the pension income can also go down.

How the solidarity-based and the flexible contribution scheme differ is explained in Future Pensions Act for employers.

Why is the increase at the transition larger than in the years after?

Because it is a one-off distribution. In the old system funds had to hold large buffers. At the transition that obligation largely falls away. ABP describes the order as follows: first the collective buffer is filled and groups that lose out from the transition are compensated, then the money that remains goes to the pensions. In the news this is called the transition bonus (invaarbonus).

The funds that have already moved show the difference. PFZW raised pensions by about 12 percent at its transition on 1 January 2026 and provisionally expects 0.66 percent for 2027. PMT granted 8.3 percent at the transition and provisionally arrives at about 0.5 percent for 2027.

For people who are still building up a pension it works differently than for pensioners. The extra money goes into the personal pension assets. Whether that also leads to a higher pension later depends on the contributions, the returns and the interest rate in the years still to come.

What was the pension increase in 2026?

In 2026 the picture also varied widely, for the same reason. PFZW and PMT made the transition and raised pensions by about 12 and 8.3 percent. PME was still in the old system and raised pensions by 2.82 percent on 1 January 2026, equal to the price increase the fund uses. For other funds, check the fund's own website; it usually lists the increases of recent years.

According to DNB, a total of 42 pension funds had made the transition by 30 September 2026. They manage 566 of the 1,630 billion euros in pension assets. The funds that have yet to move had a combined funding ratio of 136.1 percent.

When will you hear whether your pension goes up?

The decisions fall within a few weeks around the turn of the year. This is the order:

1. November 2026. Funds that have already moved, such as PFZW and PMT, report the final percentage. Pensioners receive a personal notice.
2. End of December 2026. The SVB (Social Insurance Bank) publishes the state pension (AOW) amounts that apply from 1 January.
3. 1 January 2027. The new amounts take effect. ABP, PME and Pensioenfonds Detailhandel intend to make the transition on this date.
4. End of January 2027. ABP publishes the funding ratio of 31 December.
5. February 2027. ABP pays for the first time under the new rules, with a back payment for January.
6. Before 1 July 2027. Members of Pensioenfonds Detailhandel receive their final statement.

If your scheme is placed with an insurer or a premium pension institution (PPI), there is no indexation decision. There it depends on the type of benefit. A fixed benefit stays the same, unless an annual increase was agreed when it was purchased. A variable benefit moves with the investments.

What does an increase mean for your contribution as an employer?

You will not be sent a bill for an increase in pensions. The fund pays for it from its assets: from returns, from the reserve or, at the transition, from the buffers that are released. In a defined contribution scheme you agree a contribution as an employer, not an outcome.

What you do need to watch is the contribution itself. It is a percentage of pensionable pay, so in euros it rises with every pay round. Industry-wide pension funds usually announce the contribution for the new year in the same weeks as the increase. That is the figure for your budget, not the indexation percentage.

If your fund or provider has yet to make the transition, the contribution or the split between employer and employee may change as well. That is set out in the transition plan. I advise employers to put it next to their wage costs before the budget round, so that January does not bring a surprise.

How do you explain it to your employees?

Headlines about double-digit figures raise expectations. With the employers I speak to, three questions come back every December: do we get that too, why does my neighbour get more, and will it stay that way. This approach prevents disappointment:

1. Say which provider administers the scheme and whether it has already made the transition. That determines whether it is a one-off distribution or an ordinary annual adjustment.
2. Refer to the personal notice from the fund. Do not name a percentage yourself, not even the one from the news.
3. Explain the difference between pensioners and employees. A pensioner sees the increase in the monthly benefit, an employee in the pension assets.
4. Be honest that it can also go down. In the new system pensions move more, in both directions.
5. Point out the difference between gross and net. An increase is a gross amount. What someone keeps net is explained in gross and net pension.

Frequently asked questions

This article provides general information. What applies to your pension is set out in the notice from your pension provider and in the pension scheme rules. Figures checked on 6 November 2026. Sources: ABP (news item of 3 November 2026 and "Pensioenvermogen wordt op 1 januari 2027 verdeeld"), PFZW ("Pensioenkoers" and "Resultaat PFZW tweede kwartaal 2026"), PMT (quarterly reports of 13 May and 13 August 2026), PME ("Hoe zeker is je pensioen?" and "Nieuwe regels voor pensioen"), Pensioenfonds Detailhandel (news item of 2 November 2026), De Nederlandsche Bank ("Dekkingsgraad" and news item on transition and funding ratio of pension funds, third quarter 2026), SVB ("Bedragen AOW"), Rijksoverheid ("Overgang naar nieuwe pensioenstelsel").

Read next: Future Pensions Act for employers · Gross and net pension