The Greek government is preparing four measures aimed at providing additional financial support to pensioners in 2027, with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis expected to announce the plans at the upcoming Thessaloniki International Fair.
The measures include changes to the pensioners’ Solidarity Contribution, higher pension increases, the full abolition of the so-called personal difference and a potential one-time payment of more than €300 in November 2026.
The measures come after years of pension cuts. According to the report, pensioners have lost as much as 45% of their income over the past 17 years.
Changes to the solidarity contribution
One of the main measures under consideration is a reform of the pensioners’ Solidarity Contribution, known by its Greek acronym EAS.
The contribution was introduced in 2010 as part of Greece’s austerity measures. According to the report, it has cost about 440,000 pensioners a total of €10 billion. It currently applies to pensions above €1,468.
Under the proposed system, the contribution would be calculated progressively, applying only to the portion of a pension above €1,468 rather than to the entire pension.
For example, a pensioner receiving €2,000 a month who currently pays €120 in EAS would pay €64 under the proposed system, increasing their monthly income by €56.
The government is also considering reducing the existing eight contribution brackets to create a simpler and more proportional system.
The issue has gained additional urgency because of pending legal proceedings. On October 7, the Court of Audit is expected to rule on an appeal by a pensioner seeking to have the current method of calculating the contribution declared unconstitutional.
Higher pension increases in 2027
Pensioners could also receive a larger annual increase next year than initially projected.
The report estimates that inflation will end the year at between 3.8% and 4%, while economic growth is expected to reach 1.8%.
Based on the formula used to calculate pension increases — the average of inflation and economic growth — the increase for 2027 is expected to range between 2.6% and 2.8% before taxes, compared with an earlier projection of 2.4%.
The increase is expected to be paid before Christmas.
Personal difference to be abolished
The full abolition of the personal difference for older pensioners has already been approved and will take effect January 1, 2027.
Around 671,586 pensioners who still have a personal difference are expected to receive actual increases in their pensions for the first time in years.
Under the previous system, pension increases were effectively absorbed by the personal difference until it was eliminated.
Under the previous system, some would have needed as many as 10 consecutive years of increases before the personal difference was eliminated and they began receiving a real increase in their monthly payments.
The new rules will end that waiting period. Pensioners will receive the full value of future increases, while any remaining personal difference will continue to be paid as a separate component of the pension.
That amount will remain fixed and will not itself increase. It will also not be subject to health insurance or EAS contributions, although income tax will still apply.
Payment of more than €300 under consideration
The government is also considering increasing a payment planned for November 2026 to more than €300.
The amounts under consideration are €400 or as much as €446, equivalent to the current national pension.
The number of potential beneficiaries has already increased by 420,000 following an expansion of the income and property eligibility limits.
The payment would cover around 1.87 million people, or approximately 85% of pensioners, as well as uninsured elderly people and people with disabilities.
Widows and widowers would also become eligible from age 60, rather than 65, provided that their survivor’s pension is their only source of income.
Pensioners’ income remains under pressure
The report argues that despite Greece’s economic recovery, pensioners remain the only social group continuing to experience losses in real disposable income after 17 years of cuts.
Over the past four years, pension adjustments have remained below the official inflation rate, according to the report. This year’s pension increase was 2.4%, while average inflation was running above 3.8%.
At the same time, 1.3 million supplementary pensions have received no increases, while pensions affected by the personal difference remained effectively frozen. This year, those pensioners received only half of the adjustment, amounting to 1.2%.
Pensioners lost approximately €130 billion between 2010 and 2025 as a result of austerity-era pension laws. For 2026 alone, the losses are estimated at €3.3 billion.
