This chapter covers old-age pension entitlements both for beneficiaries of the general scheme and for beneficiaries of the non-contributory scheme, namely

• The Old-Age Pension [Pensão de velhice];
• The Social Old-Age Pension [Pensão social de velhice]. 

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In what situation can I claim?

For the Old-Age Pension

• Employees;
• Members of statutory bodies;
• Self-employed workers;
• Domestic workers;
• Beneficiaries of the voluntary social security scheme.

For the Social Old-Age Pension:

• National citizens, resident in Portugal;
• Foreign citizens, resident in Portugal, covered by European Community regulations on social security (EU Member States, Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway and Switzerland) and by international social security agreements in force in Portugal (Cape Verde, Canada, Australia and Brazil).

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What conditions do I need to meet?

The Old-Age Pension is granted to the beneficiary who, on the date of claiming

• Has reached the state pension age: 66 years and 4 months in 2023. After 2014, the state pension age will vary according to the evolution of average life expectancy at 65 years of age.

• If you are below the state pension age indicated above, you may be entitled to anticipate your Old-Age Pension in certain circumstances:
  • Involuntarily unemployed over the long term;
  • Working in certain strenuous occupations: miners, registered seafarers, air traffic controllers, professional dancers, etc.;
  • Under the system of in which age of access to the old-age pension is made more flexible;
  • Long contribution career.

• When the following minimum qualifying period requirements have been met:
  • a minimum of 15 calendar years, whether consecutive or aggregate, with registered earnings;
  • 144 months with registered earnings (for beneficiaries covered by the voluntary social security scheme).

State pension age preserved at 65 years for:

Beneficiaries who are legally impeded from continuing work beyond that age and/or who have actually worked for at least the five calendar years immediately preceding the year that the pension starts (civil aviation pilots and professional lorry drivers).

Lowering of the state pension age:

On the date when the beneficiary reaches 60 years of age, the normal state pension age is reduced by four months for every calendar year (with registered earnings) worked in excess of the contributions ceiling of 40 years; this is for the purposes of calculating the pension accrual rate given that the old age pension cannot actually be accessed before this age.

Social Old-Age Pension

Is granted to citizens who:

• Are not covered by any compulsory social insurance scheme or by the temporary scheme for rural workers, or who do not meet the minimum qualifying period requirement for accessing the pension;
• Are recipients of disability, old-age or survivor's pensions paid at a lower rate than the social pension;
• Have a gross monthly income of € 192.17 or less in the case of single persons, or € 288.26 or less in the case of couples (corresponding to 40% and 60% of the IAS [Social Support Index] respectively) - the "financial resources condition".

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What am I entitled to and how can I claim?

The Old-Age Pension is paid from:

• The date when the claim is submitted; or
• The date indicated by the beneficiary for the pension to start, if submitting the claim in advance; the claim may be submitted up to three months before the date on which the beneficiary wishes the pension to start.

The old-age pension can be requested online from the Direct Social Security office, or in person from the competent services.

In the Segurança Social Direta, before starting the application, it is possible to see the calculation of the old age pension, indicating the years of contributions and the estimated gross amount of the pension to be received.

Access here.

After completing the online application, and if you meet the necessary conditions, the application will be automatically approved and you will be granted a provisional pension within a maximum of 24 hours.

Benefit amounts and supplements

The pension amount is determined according to the beneficiary's social security contribution record and registered earnings.

State pensions under the general social security scheme are updated annually, save legal provisions to the contrary, factoring in GDP and the average annual variation in the Consumer Prices Index (CPI), minus housing, with effect from 1 January each year.

Minimum rates

Under the general scheme, the following minimum pension rates are guaranteed according to the pensioner's contribution record: less than 15 years, 15 to 20 years, 21 to 30 years and 31 years and over.

The Social Old-Age Pension is updated periodically.

Certain supplements may be paid on top of the Old-Age Pension. These are the Dependency Supplement, which is paid to pensioners in a state of dependency, and the Solidarity Supplement for the Elderly [Complemento Solidário para Idosos (CSI)]. The CSI is a monthly cash benefit paid to pensioners with limited means, who are resident in Portugal and who have reached or passed the normal state pension age under the general social security scheme (or, in other words, 66 years and 4 months in 2023).

CSI recipients are entitled to additional health to buy medicines, glasses, lenses and dental prosthesis as well as discounts on their electricity and natural gas bills.

Jargon busters

• Minimum qualifying period: this is the minimum period of paying social security contributions that is required for accessing a benefit
• Voluntary Social Security (SSV): scheme covering persons over 18 years of age who are able to work and are not covered by compulsory social insurance schemes.
• Registered earnings: earnings are registered for social security purposes when earnings (salaries) are declared to the Social Security Institute, and pay-related social security contributions are paid on account of this.

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Forms you may need to fill in

• RP5068-DGSS - Claim for Old-Age Pension
• RP5002-DGSS – Claim for Social Old-Age Pension
• RP5023-DGSS - Declaration on occupation practiced (only for occupations that are part of a special scheme whereby the pension age may be anticipated).
• RP5081-DGSS - Declaration of occupation of the insured person or deceased insured person.
• RP5071-DGSS - Questionnaire for Applying to a Competent Foreign Institution for Invalidity Pension or Old-Age Pension and Providing Information on the Insured Person's Contribution Record.

These forms can be found on the Social Security web site

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Know your rights

The links below define your entitlements in accordance with Portuguese law. They are not European Commission links, nor do they represent the Commission's position

• Pensão de velhice [Old-age pension];
• Pensão social de velhice [Social Old-age pension];
• Complemento solidário para idosos [Solidarity supplement for the elderly];
• Benefícios sociais de saúde [Social health benefits] .

Commission Publication and Website:

• Retirement abroad: your entitlements abroad as a European Citizen.

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Who do you need to contact?

You can obtain further information on old-age pensions through one of the following

Social Security Line: 300 502 502 / 210 545 400

Personalized service: Monday to Friday from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm, excluding public holidays

Automated reply system: 24/24, 7/7

From abroad: +351 300 502 502 / +351 210 545 400

Social Security website: www.seg-social.pt.

Consult Segurança Social Direta [Social Security Direct].

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