Former farmers came to the recalculation: after 30 years of work they receive subsistence pensions
The pensioners who worked only in agriculture and retired before 2001 benefit from this period to recalculate the pension on the basis of the new law. The amounts remain very small, compared to other categories of pensioners, even after recalculation.
Agriculture pensioners have the smallest photo pensions: Shutterstock
The persons who worked in agriculture and retired before 2001 benefit from this period to recalculate the pension on the basis of the new law, Law no.360/2023 on the public pension system, entered into force on September 1, 2024.
There are those pensioners with exclusively agriculture contribution periods, or “head pensioners”, as they are known. Most had, until this recalculation, extremely small pensions, the average farmer pension at the country level being, in March 2025, of 919 lei. However, it is not the amount that the pensioners effectively collect, because in the case where a smaller amount (and the overwhelming majority are in this situation) receive the minimum pension that the state grants, called “social allowance for pensioners”, respectively 1,281 lei.
Pensions will not be much larger even after recalculation, even if most of the pensioners of decades old will register increases that allow them to overcome the minimum pension. However, only those who are over 27 years old will succeed.
Pensions are recalculated ex officio
“Starting with September 1, 2024, Law no.360/2023 regarding the public pension system, which comes with news regarding the calculation of pensions, came into force. One of these news refers to the recalculation, according to the provisions of art.154 of Law no.360/2023 regarding the public pension system, the pensions established in the former pension system and other social insurance rights of farmers before April 1, 2001. The recalculation process for this category of pensions (head pensions) is underway, being managed step by step. Until this date, most of the files have been recalculated ”, said Claudia Măldăreanu, the spokesman of the County House of Pensions Olt.
19 years old – 800 lei pension, 30 years old – 1,600 lei
The main gain of the new pension law is the stability points, which are now calculated and to the pensioners in agriculture. Even with this plus, relatively few of the pensioners will be able to exceed the minimum pension level.
“Regarding the amount of the recalculated pensions, only the persons who have made a contributory contribution period of at least 27 years have pensions that exceed the value of the guaranteed minimum social pension ”, specifies the representative of CJP Olt.
Women represent over 90% of the total number of farmers. In March 2025, according to the data reported by the National House of Public Pensions, there were 130,689 farmers, over 122,000 being women.
The amounts resulting from the recalculation do not bring to the pensioners huge incomes, the pensions of the former farmers remaining very small.
A pensioner with 27 years old in agriculture receives after recalculation at 1,300 lei; Another pensioner, 29 seniority, will receive a pension of 1,532 lei; While one 31 years old, it reached 1,600 lei. At the same time, a pensioner with “only” 19 years old has after recalculation a pension of 800 lei (but will continue to collect the minimum pension, of 1,281 lei), while for 8 years exclusively in agriculture resulted after the recalculation a pension of only 300 lei. These amounts remain much are those of other categories of pensioners.
A single farmer pension, throughout the country, over 2,700 lei
The average state pension was, in March 2025, 2,811 lei, while the service pensions were much higher: the pension for the members of the diplomatic corps – 6,943; the pension for the civil servants parliamentarians – 6,149 lei; The average pension for prosecutors and judges – 25,210 lei; the pension for the auxiliary staff from courts and prosecutor's office – 6,742; Pension for beneficiaries of the Court of Accounts – 10.153; The pension for the former pilots from the civil aviation – 13,009 lei. By comparison, between 2,701 and 2,900 lei, the largest pension for this category of pensioners, was a single farmer pension throughout the country. Only three farmers received between 2,501 and 2,700 lei, and between 2,301 and 2,500 lei there were four pensions. In March 2025, 93% of the pensioners from the former farmers' pension system, ie almost 123,000, had pensions of up to 1,200 lei, the largest pension, one in the whole country, being in the range 2,701-2.900.
The county with the most farmers farmers
The number of pensioners from the former farmers' pension system (until 2001 the pensions of this category of workers were calculated according to their own law, subsequently the state system and the farmers unifying) exceeded by just 130,000, in March 2025, the last month for which the CNPP published data. The most numerous pensioners in this category had Iași County – 8,066, followed by Dolj – 7,589 and Botosani – 7,564. At the opposite pole, excluding the sectors of Bucharest, was Caraș-Severin county, with 574 farmers, followed by Brașov-612 and Covasna-742.
