First, all pensioners on the SSNIT Pension Payroll as of December 31, last year, will have their monthly pensions increased by six per cent.

Then, SSNIT will add GH¢91.56 to every pensioner irrespective of the base amount, which constitutes four per cent of the total increased payments to all pensioners.

SSNIT, in consultation with the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA) and in line with Section 80 of the National Pensions Act, 2008 (Act 766), indexed the monthly pensions upwards by 10 per cent for this year.

At a press conference in Accra last Thursday, SSNIT also announced that it had increased the base pay of all pensioners, the first increase in five years, to cushion those with low pensions amid the current economic situation.

With both adjustments — an increase in base pay and indexation rate — approximately 70 per cent of pensioners on the payroll would benefit from the 10 per cent increment.

The Chief Actuary of SSNIT, Evelyn Adjei, who addressed the press conference, said with the redistribution, those who were on the minimum pension of GH¢300 in 2025 would receive GH¢409 a month, which had an effective rate of 36.52 per cent.

Also, those in the GH¢500 bracket would see their pension rise to GH¢621.56, an effective rate of 24.31 per cent.

Pensioners receiving GH¢2,018 every month would also get GH¢2,220, giving them an effective rate of 10 per cent.

For those of GH¢5,000, they would get GH¢5,391.56, an effective rate of 17.83 per cent.

The highest pensioner receiving pension of GH¢201,792.37, is now going to take GH¢213,991.47 a month, an effective increase of 6.05 per cent.

Mechanism

Mrs Adjei said the redistribution was a mechanism applied to the indexation rate to cushion low-earning pensioners in conformity with the solidarity principle of social security.

Redistribution, therefore, serves to moderate disparities and ensure meaningful increases for pensioners at the lower end of the pension scale. 

The SSNIT Scheme, like any other defined benefit scheme, pays pensions which mirror the earned salaries on which contributions were paid.

The decision reflects prevailing economic conditions and SSNIT’s statutory responsibility to periodically adjust pensions to maintain their real value, while safeguarding the scheme's financial sustainability for generations.

The factors considered in determining the 2026 indexation rate included salary growth among active contributors, projected average inflation of between eight and 10 per cent by the end of last year and the overall impact on the pension fund’s long-term sustainability.

Minimum

"So if you see, those who are receiving more are receiving less effectively than those who are receiving the minimum pension or the lower bracket pension, and that is to help them get more," the chief actuary of SSNIT explained.

Indexation, she said, would cost an additional GH¢616 million to SSNIT.

Mrs Adjei said Section 80 of the National Pension Act, Act 766, enjoined SSNIT to review pensions for payment annually in line with wage inflation or any other rate as determined by the Board of Trustees in consultation with the Board of the NPRA.

"That's why we do indexation every year. What we do is in line with the law," she said.

Protection

The Director-General of SSNIT, Kwesi Afreh Biney, said it was important for the trust to protect the value of the pensions for which it paid gratuities.

He said that with inflation at 5.4 per cent as of December last year, "what that means is that every pensioner on our payroll's pension payments at least have been covered for inflation.

Because even for the highest pensioner, it's about a per cent.

For those on a lower rate, he said they had gone as high as 36.52 per cent,” he said.

Mr Afreh, said the development was a testament to SSNIT’s commitment to ensure equity, fairness and to protect those at the lower level.

“You realise that over 70 per cent of our members are above 10 per cent.

What that means is that at an inflation rate of 5.4 per cent, basically, the real growth for each of those factoring in inflation is in excess of five per cent," he said.