Minimum insurance period

The entitlement to receive any German pension is conditional upon you having paid contributions for a specified period. This minimum insurance period, also known as the qualifying period, can be 5, 15, or 35 years depending on the type of pension.

The 5 and 15 year qualifying periods include:

• contribution periods (mandatory and voluntary contributions),
• substituted qualifying periods such as periods of political persecution in the GDR,
• qualifying periods from a pension rights adjustment as well as allowances for employment under the minimum threshold for making mandatory insurance contributions.

The qualifying period of 35 years additionally includes recognition of non-income periods and periods taken into consideration by way of legal provisions. These periods, as a rule, count towards the calculation of the pension but not the actual entitlement itself.

Recognised non-income periods are times when you were ill, pregnant or unemployed for example. Periods spent in school and third level education may also count as recognised non-income periods. Periods taken into consideration by way of legal provisions, are times spent raising a child, for example.