The Social Security System (SSS) will begin increasing retirement and disability pensions by 10 percent annually starting September 2025, with hikes to continue through 2027, Finance Secretary Ralph Recto announced on Thursday.
The three-year increase is anchored on the Pension Reform of 2025, marking the first time the SSS is implementing annual hikes to pensions.
Currently, beneficiaries aged 60 to 89 — who make up 99.4 percent of all pensioners — receive an average monthly pension of P4,923.
By 2027, the average monthly pension will reach P6,548, reflecting a total increase of P1,625 or 33 percent, the SSS said.
“After three years of pension increases starting September 2025, SSS will have paid about P41,145 in additional benefits to the average pensioner,” SSS added.
The list of pensioners is expected to reach about 3.8 million individuals, including death and survivor pensioners — and these are the people who will be receiving a cumulative 5 percent increase over the period.
Recto, who chairs the SSS board as finance secretary, said the reform not only improves income security for the elderly and disabled but also strengthens consumer spending — projected to grow by P117.2 billion over three years.
Starting this year, the SSS will implement annual pension hikes every September until 2027, Recto said, noting that increased household spending can help reduce poverty.
The Department of Finance confirmed there will be no contribution rate increases during the three-year period, as the SSS declared a moratorium on hikes through 2027.
The DOF emphasized that the reform is “grounded in actuarial soundness” and backed by SSS’s strong cash flow and the completed contribution adjustments under the Social Security Act of 2018.
