Bulgaria Raises Retirement Age as Part of Pension Reform

The normal retirement age in Bulgaria will gradually rise to reach 65 years for both men and women in 2037, parliament has decided.

The period of work needed to make a worker eligible for receiving full pension benefits will gradually rise by two months a year to reach 40 years for men and 37 for women in 2027.

Increasing the retirement age is a key part of the reform of the country’s pension system proposed by the minority coalition government of Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and approved by parliament on first reading in 115-35 vote with 19 abstentions on Thursday.

The retirement age for miners, aircraft pilots and workers in nuclear power plants e.g.  first category of labour, will rise to 55 years. Currently the retirement age for men working in those sectors can is set at 52 years and 8 months, while women can retire when they reach the age of 47 years and 8 months.  

The retirement age for employers working in hazardous condition such as those employed in metallurgy, petrochemical industry and public transport will increase to 60 years.

The retirement age for police officers and members of the military will increase to 52 years and 10 months in 2016 and will gradually rise until it reaches 55 years.

Another change in the pension model approved on Thursday calls for increasing the insurance contribution to the state pension find by one percentage point each in 2017 and 2018. The pension insurance contribution to the state pension fund currently stands at 17.8% of insured income.

The changes to the Social Insurance Code need to be approved on second reading by parliament to become law.

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