Romania cancels pension indexations for 2025 and 2026

The Romanian government has canceled pension indexations for 2025 and 2026, citing a significant budget deficit. While the government describes this as a postponement, reports indicate that the missed indexations—estimated at 13% for January 2025 and 7% for January 2026—may not be reimbursed, potentially resulting in pensions being approximately 20% lower than they would have been under Law no. 360/2023.

Under the current legal framework, pensions are meant to be indexed annually on January 1st based on the average annual inflation rate and real growth in average gross wages. The next scheduled indexation is expected in January 2027.

Separately, the pension calculation mechanism under Law no. 360/2023 continues to utilize stability points. These points are awarded to individuals whose contributory period exceeds 25 years. Unlike annual points, which are based on income levels, stability points are tied to the duration of social security contributions and are added to an individual's total score to influence the final pension amount.