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Employment law and deadlines

Germany retirement age by year of birth

API The retirement age and pension start calculator runs through the REST API, by date or year of birth in JSON.

As of 2026, the statutory retirement age (Regelaltersgrenze) in Germany is 67 for everyone born in 1964 or later (§ 35 SGB VI). For people born from 1947 to 1963, it rises step by step from 65 years and one month to 66 years and ten months (§ 235 Abs. 2 SGB VI). Example: born on August 15, 1961, retirement age 66 years and 6 months, reached on February 14, 2028, pension from March 1, 2028.

Last checked against the sources on September 24, 2026. Next expected change: only if the law changes.

REST /v1/hr/regelaltersgrenzeMCP hr_regelaltersgrenzeCLI qk regelaltersgrenze

Calculates from the date of birth the statutory retirement age (Regelaltersgrenze), the day it is reached and the start of the standard old-age pension (Regelaltersrente). With the increase for people born from 1947 to 1963 under § 235 SGB VI, 67 years for people born from 1964 and the protection of legitimate expectations (Vertrauensschutz) for partial retirement agreed before 2007.

Source
§§ 35, 99 and 235 SGB VI
License
Calculation under the cited provisions. Use under the Quellenkontor terms of use.
Updates
when the law changes
Coverage
Germany, current law

A value doesn't match the official source? Report an error. We check against the primary source and document every correction in the changelog.

Related solutions: For HR softwareFor AI agents and HR chatbots

api.quellenkontor.dev/v1/hr/regelaltersgrenze?geburtsdatum=1961-08-15
Zur API-Doku →
curl "https://api.quellenkontor.dev/v1/hr/regelaltersgrenze?geburtsdatum=1961-08-15" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $QK_KEY"
Antwort200 OK · JSON
{
  "datensatz": "regelaltersgrenze",
  "geburtsdatum": "1961-08-15",
  "geburtsjahr": 1961,
  "vertrauensschutz": false,
  "regelaltersgrenze_jahre": 66,
  "regelaltersgrenze_monate": 6,
  "anhebung_monate": 18,
  "erreicht_am": "2028-02-14",
  "rentenbeginn": "2028-03-01",
  "rechtsgrundlage": "§ 235 Abs. 2 Satz 2 SGB VI",
  "quelle": {
    "titel": "§ 235 SGB VI (Regelaltersrente, Anhebung der Regelaltersgrenze)",
    "url": "https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/sgb_6/__235.html"
  },
  "hinweise": [
    "Die Regelaltersgrenze ist mit Ablauf des Tages vor dem entsprechenden Geburtstag erreicht, die Rente beginnt am Ersten des Folgemonats. Wer am Ersten eines Monats geboren ist, erreicht die Grenze schon am letzten Tag des Vormonats und bekommt die Rente einen Monat früher."
  ],
  "stand": "2026-09-24",
  "lizenz": "Berechnung nach den genannten Normen. Nutzung nach den Nutzungsbedingungen von Quellenkontor.",
  "zitat": "Regelaltersgrenze bei Geburt am 15.08.1961: 66 Jahre und 6 Monate, erreicht am 14.02.2028. Frühestmöglicher Beginn der Regelaltersrente am 01.03.2028, wenn die Wartezeit von fünf Jahren erfüllt ist und die Rente rechtzeitig beantragt wird. Frühere Altersrenten, etwa nach 45 Beitragsjahren, sind nicht berechnet. Ein Arbeitsverhältnis endet damit nicht von selbst. Rechtsgrundlage: § 235 Abs. 2 Satz 2 SGB VI, §§ 41, 50 und 99 SGB VI. Quelle: § 235 SGB VI (Regelaltersrente, Anhebung der Regelaltersgrenze), https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/sgb_6/__235.html. Daten: Quellenkontor (quellenkontor.dev).",
  "datenstand": "2026-09-24.12"
}

Response shortened. All parameters and response fields are in the Retirement age reference.

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Statutory retirement age by year of birth

Increase over age 65 under § 235 Abs. 2 SGB VI. The pension starts on the first day of the month after reaching the age limit.

Legal citations stay in German, exactly as they appear in the official sources.

Year of birthIncreaseRetirement age
1946 and earliernone65 years
19471 month65 years 1 month
19482 months65 years 2 months
19493 months65 years 3 months
19504 months65 years 4 months
19515 months65 years 5 months
19526 months65 years 6 months
19537 months65 years 7 months
19548 months65 years 8 months
19559 months65 years 9 months
195610 months65 years 10 months
195711 months65 years 11 months
195812 months66 years
195914 months66 years 2 months
196016 months66 years 4 months
196118 months66 years 6 months
196220 months66 years 8 months
196322 months66 years 10 months
1964 and later24 months67 years

Parameters

ParametersTypeMeaning
geburtsdatumdatedateDate of birth of the insured person. Required unless geburtsjahr is given
geburtsjahrintegerintegerOnly the year of birth, if the date of birth is missing (optional, instead of geburtsdatum). The response then contains the retirement age and the range of the earliest pension start in the field rentenbeginn_spanne
vertrauensschutzbooleanbooleantrue for protection of legitimate expectations under § 235 Abs. 2 Satz 3 SGB VI: born before 1955 with partial retirement (Altersteilzeit) agreed before January 1, 2007, or receiving adjustment pay (Anpassungsgeld) for laid-off mining workers (born before 1964). Default: false

All response fields with types, allowed values, defaults and error cases are in the Retirement age reference.

Questions about this dataset

When do people born in 1960 reach the statutory retirement age?

At 66 years and 4 months. Someone born on May 20, 1960 reaches it on September 19, 2026, and the standard old-age pension starts on October 1, 2026 at the earliest. You can only retire earlier with an early old-age pension, for example for people with long insurance records from 63 with deductions, or after 45 contribution years.

What applies if you were born on the first day of a month?

You reach the retirement age on the last day of the previous month, and your pension starts one month earlier. Example: born on March 1, 1960, reached on June 30, 2026, pension from July 1, 2026; born on March 2, 1960, pension from August 1, 2026.

Why does the pension only start in the following month?

The pension is paid from the calendar month at whose start all requirements are met (§ 99 Abs. 1 SGB VI). If you reach the retirement age on March 14, your pension starts on April 1. If your birthday is on the first day of a month, you reach it on the last day of the previous month, and your pension starts one month earlier.

Does employment end automatically at the statutory retirement age?

No, not by law. It only ends if the employment contract, a collective agreement or a works agreement sets an age limit; an agreement in the employment contract must be in text form (§ 41 Abs. 3 SGB VI). Being entitled to a pension is not in itself a reason for dismissal (§ 41 Abs. 1 SGB VI).

How often is the dataset updated?

When the law changes. We check the data against the official sources every week, and every change is logged in the changelog. On the Pro plan, a webhook notifies your server.

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