Pensions for Greek uniformed services 2026: the part you can calculate
For members of the Greek Armed Forces, police and fire service, and their families: what Law 4387/2016 sets in common, and what stays under public-sector pension law.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy
Since 2016, members of the Greek Armed Forces, Security Corps and Fire Service belong to the single social insurance fund for their main pension, and their pensions are calculated under Law 4387/2016; for them the transfer took effect on 1 July 2016 (articles 4 and 6). The amount has two parts. The contributory part is the average of monthly earnings from 2002 until the pension starts, revalued, multiplied by the accrual rate of table 2: 20.68 % after 25 years, 30.33 % after 32 and 44.91 % after 38. On a €2,000 average that gives €414, €607 and €898 a month. The national pension, up to €436.40, is added. What the law does not bring into the common rules is the question of when: qualifying conditions and age limits for uniformed staff remain those of public-sector pension law. Those, along with credited service and corps-specific rules, are not calculated here.
Contributory pension with the Law 4387/2016 rates
Contributory part
€422
| Accrual rate | 26.37 % |
| With 3 more years | €517 |
| National pension | €436 |
Two questions, two sets of rules
Anyone in the Greek Armed Forces, the police (Elliniki Astynomia) or the fire service wants to know two things: when they can retire and how much they will get. Law 4387/2016 answers them in different places. Article 4(1)(a) brings civil servants, “as well as members of the Armed Forces, the Security Corps and the Fire Service”, into the single fund for their main pension, and says their pensions are set and paid under that law. Article 6(4) dates the transfer for these groups to 1 July 2016.
Article 4(1)(b) then keeps one thing outside: for the conditions of entitlement and the age at which the pension is paid, “the relevant provisions of public-sector pension legislation continue to apply”. The amount follows common rules; the timing follows your own. This page deals with the amount.
What a career average does to the result
| Career path (illustrative) | Average since 2002 | Contributory (35 years) | With national pension |
|---|---|---|---|
| flat career | €1,600 | €597 | €1,033 |
| moderate promotions | €1,800 | €672 | €1,108 |
| steady promotions | €2,000 | €746 | €1,183 |
| last grade held for long | €2,300 | €858 | €1,295 |
The table keeps 35 years of service and changes only the average pay since 2002. The labels are illustrations, not grades. The lesson is the same in every row: the base is an average, revalued, not the salary of your last rank. At a final salary of €2,600, the contributory part would be €970 if the last salary counted; with averages like those above it is lower. Enter your estimated average, not your current pay, in the calculator.
The rule comes from article 8(3). Pensionable earnings for civil servants and military staff are the average monthly earnings from insurance year 2002 until the pension starts. If there are fewer than five insured years after 1 January 2002, earlier years are added to reach five; for pensions starting from 1 January 2021 the threshold is ten years. Each year’s earnings are revalued, with consumer prices up to 2026 and the ELSTAT wage index from 2027.
The accrual rates are the common ones
Article 8(1) gives civil servants “as well as military staff” a contributory part based on pensionable earnings, insurance time and the accrual table of paragraph 5. Since 1 October 2019 that is table 2, which applies to every insured person: the rate for each year depends on the band it falls in, rising steeply after 30 years and flattening after 40. The contributory amount can never exceed the pensionable earnings themselves.
The national pension
Article 7 grants the national pension to everyone who qualifies for a pension. The full amount is €436.40 from 1 January 2025, the latest figure published by the Ministry of Labour and indexed each year, paid in full with 20 years of insurance and 40 years of residence in Greece. Families who spent years abroad on postings should note that the law treats Greek civil servants serving abroad, paid by the Greek state and insured with e-EFKA, as resident. The national pension guide covers the reductions.
What this page does not cover
We do not calculate, because we have not verified them in an official source: the ages and years of service required in the army, navy, air force, police, fire service or coast guard; credited service and time supplements specific to each corps; the special conditions for people insured before 1993, which the Ministry of Labour notes vary by fund and for the public sector; lump sums and auxiliary benefits. Article 4(3) also excludes war pensions and peacetime disabled soldiers’ pensions from the law altogether.
For all of these, the right source is your corps’ personnel directorate and e-EFKA’s public-sector pension service, working from your service record. Use the calculator here to check the amount you are quoted, not the date. The general ages that apply to private-sector employees are on the retirement age page, the full estimate in the pension calculator, and current payroll deductions in the Greek salary calculator.