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Guide to retirement in Algeria 2026: conditions and how the pension is calculated

The conditions for retiring with the CNR, how the pension is calculated step by step, the minimum and maximum amounts in 2026, and the retirement allowance below 15 years of work, with the texts of the law.

Last reviewed: Reading time: 10 min10 official sourcesPublisher: Hsabet
A retired couple going through their pension paperwork at a table in a house overlooking the Bay of Algiers

An employee in Algeria is entitled to a retirement pension from the National Pension Fund (CNR, Caisse nationale des retraites) once they are 60 years old, 55 for a woman at her own request, and have worked for at least 15 years. The pension is equal to 2.5% of the reference wage per validated year, up to a ceiling of 80%, and its annual amount cannot be lower than the annual amount of the SNMG (guaranteed national minimum wage), that is 288,000 DA in 2026 (24,000 DA a month).

This guide covers salaried workers affiliated to the social security system. Non-salaried workers – traders, craftspeople and the liberal professions – follow other rules, at CASNOS: see the retirement calculator for non-salaried workers.

The conditions for a retirement pension

Article 6 of loi 83-12 sets two cumulative conditions: age and length of service. The legal age is 60 for a man; a woman worker may be retired, at her own request, from the age of 55 completed. The length of service is at least 15 years of work, of which at least half – 7.5 years – must have been actual work for which contributions were paid.

Text of the law

Pour pouvoir bénéficier d'une pension, le travailleur doit remplir les deux conditions suivantes : être âgé de soixante ans au moins […] ; avoir travaillé pendant au moins quinze (15) années.
Article 6 of loi n° 83-12 (French text, Official Journal No. 28 of 1983) (opens in a new tab)

Loi 16-15 added the option of voluntarily carrying on working beyond the legal age, for a maximum of 5 years. To find the date on which you will meet both conditions, use the retirement date calculator.

Main calculator

Retirement Calculator

Estimate your retirement pension and retirement date according to CNR rules

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When the retirement age is reduced

  • Working mothers: one year off the age per child raised for at least 9 years, up to 3 years (article 8, which no later text has amended). The children in question are dependent children within the meaning of article 67 of loi 83-11. The reduction is taken off the age in article 6, so a woman who asks for her retirement at 55 comes down to 52 with three children.
  • The specific corps of national education – teachers and lecturers, supervisors (censeurs), heads of education and teaching establishments and inspectors: 3 years off, at their own request (article 7 bis 1, added by loi 25-09), with décret exécutif 26-74 setting the age at 57 for men and 52 for women.

If one of these two reductions applies to you, take its years off the legal age, then use the retirement date calculator to find your own date.

There is no general early retirement open to employees today. Retirement without an age condition, after 32 years of actual work for which contributions were paid, and proportional retirement, from the age of 50 with 20 years of work – 45 years and 15 years for women, the age and the length of service both being reduced by five years – were set out in article 6 bis, added by ordonnance 97-13 and repealed by article 8 of loi 16-15 with effect from 1 January 2017. Only the 32-year case was extended, for two years and under a minimum age: 58 in 2017 and 59 in 2018 (article 61 bis). The full legal age has applied since 1 January 2019.

How is the retirement pension calculated?

The calculation takes three steps: work out the reference wage, then the pension rate from the number of years, then apply the minimum and maximum amounts.

  1. The reference wage: the average monthly wage of the last 5 years before retirement, or the average monthly wage of the 5 best-paid years of the career if that is more favourable to the worker (article 13, as amended by loi 99-03).
  2. The rate: 2.5% per validated year (article 12), up to 80% (article 17), a ceiling reached after 32 years.
  3. Gross pension = reference wage × rate, raised to the minimum amount if it falls below it and brought down to the maximum amount if it goes above it.

Text of the law

Le salaire servant de base au calcul de la pension est égal : soit au salaire mensuel moyen des cinq (5) dernières années précédant la mise à la retraite ; soit, si c'est plus favorable, au salaire mensuel moyen déterminé sur la base des cinq (5) années ayant donné lieu à la rémunération la plus élevée au cours de la carrière professionnelle de l'intéressé […]
Article 13 of loi n° 83-12, as amended by article 2 of loi n° 99-03 (French text, Official Journal No. 20 of 1999) (opens in a new tab)

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Estimate your retirement pension and retirement date according to CNR rules

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A worked example: a reference wage of 60,000 DA

Take a worker whose reference wage is 60,000 DA a month. The table shows how their gross pension varies in 2026 with the number of validated years:

Gross pension by years of work (reference wage of 60,000 DA, year 2026)
Years of workRateCalculationGross monthly pension
1537.5%60,000 × 37.5% = 22,500 → raised to the minimum amount24,000 DA
2050%60,000 × 50%30,000 DA
2870%60,000 × 70%42,000 DA
3280%60,000 × 80%48,000 DA
3580% (ceiling)60,000 × 80%48,000 DA

Beyond 32 years the rate no longer rises, but the extra years can lift the reference wage if they are among the five best-paid ones.

The minimum and maximum pension in 2026

The minimum and maximum retirement pension in 2026 and their legal basis
LimitRuleAmount in 2026Legal basis
Minimum amountThe annual amount of the retirement pension cannot be lower than the annual amount of the guaranteed national minimum wage288,000 DA a year (24,000 DA a month)Article 16, as amended by loi 23-11
Maximum amount15 times the guaranteed national minimum wage360,000 DA a monthArticle 17 bis, added by loi 99-03

Article 16 states this minimum as an annual amount, not a monthly one, and at 100% of the annual SNMG since 1 January 2023 – the wording from loi 99-03 set it at 75%. The monthly figure is only a derivation: 24,000 DA × 12 = 288,000 DA in 2026, that is 24,000 DA a month. The minimum therefore rises every time the SNMG does, and both the age and the length-of-service conditions have to be met.

Under 15 years of work: the retirement allowance

Someone who reaches 60 without having completed 15 years of work is not entitled to a pension, but can receive a retirement allowance (allocation de retraite) if at least 5 years or 20 quarters can be validated (article 47, as amended by loi 23-11). The annual amount of this allowance cannot be lower than 75% of the annual amount of the SNMG, that is 216,000 DA in 2026 (18,000 DA a month).

Does the pension rise after retirement?

Yes. Pensions are revalued every year by ministerial order (arrêté), on a proposal from the National Pension Fund, with effect from 1 May (article 43, as amended by loi 99-03). The coefficient applies to the pensions already being paid and to the old wages used to calculate the new ones.

What the calculator does not cover

  • Deductions from the pension: the result is a gross pension.
  • The difference between the two calculation bases: the 2.5% rate applies to the wage subject to contributions, whereas the 80% ceiling in article 17 is worked out on the wage after the contribution and the tax have been deducted. The calculator uses a single wage, for simplicity.
  • Age reductions and special retirement schemes: they belong to the retirement date calculator or to the Fund.
  • The eligibility decision: only the National Pension Fund validates the years and the wages and sets the final pension.

When the holder of the pension dies, the eligible survivors (ayants droit) may claim a survivor's pension (pension de réversion). For non-salaried workers affiliated to CASNOS, use the survivor's pension calculator for non-salaried workers.

Frequently asked questions

Which five years does the Fund use for the reference wage?
The Fund takes whichever of two formulas is more favourable to the worker: the average of the last 5 years before retirement, or the average of the 5 best-paid years of the whole career. This rule has applied since 1 January 2000 under loi 99-03; before that it covered 3 years.
Can a woman retire before 55?
Yes, in two cases. A mother who has raised one or more children for at least 9 years benefits, under article 8, from a reduction of one year per child up to 3 years; the children in question are dependent children within the meaning of article 67 of loi 83-11, and since the reduction is taken off 55, 52 is the lowest age possible. Women in the education corps concerned can apply from 52, an age set expressly by article 2 of décret exécutif 26-74 rather than derived.
When was proportional retirement abolished in Algeria?
Ordonnance 97-13 of 31 May 1997 added article 6 bis: retirement without an age condition after 32 years of actual work for which contributions were paid, and proportional retirement from the age of 50 with 20 years of work, the age and the length of service both reduced by five years for women (45 years and 15 years). Article 8 of loi 16-15 of 31 December 2016 then repealed that article, with effect from 1 January 2017. The transitional period in article 61 bis never covered proportional retirement: it applied only to the 32-year case, under a minimum age of 58 in 2017 and 59 in 2018. The full legal age has applied since 1 January 2019.
Can I carry on working after 60?
Yes. Article 6, as amended by loi 16-15, allows work to be continued voluntarily beyond the legal age, for a maximum of 5 years. The extra years do not take the rate above 80%, but they can lift the reference wage.
What is the difference between a retirement pension and a retirement allowance?
The pension is a right for anyone who meets the conditions of 60 years of age and 15 years of work; it is calculated at 2.5% per year and its annual amount cannot be lower than the annual amount of the SNMG (288,000 DA in 2026, that is 24,000 DA a month). The allowance is for someone who reaches 60 with between 5 and 15 years of work; its annual amount cannot be lower than 75% of the annual amount of that wage, that is 18,000 DA a month in 2026.
When are pensions revalued each year?
Pensions are revalued every year by ministerial order, after a proposal from the National Pension Fund, with effect from 1 May, under article 43 of loi 83-12 as amended by loi 99-03. The revaluation rate varies from one year to the next.

Official sources