The Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) has announced a 10 per cent increase in monthly pensions for the 2026 financial year, in line with its mandate to provide retirement income security for pensioners.
According to the Trust, the increment applies to all 261,000 pensioners on its payroll as of December 31, 2025. The increase is expected to incur an additional cost of GH¢616 million to the Trust in 2026. SSNIT projects total pension payments for 2026 to exceed GH¢7 billion, with a total monthly pension payout of about GH¢580 million.
In addition to the general indexation, SSNIT announced an increase in the minimum monthly pension from GH¢300 to GH¢400, representing a 36 per cent rise. This will cover about 2,964 new pensioners, while existing pensioners on the minimum pension will see their payments rise to GH¢409.56 from GH¢300.
The Director-General of SSNIT, Mr Kwesi Afreh Biney, speaking at a press conference on the 2026 indexation last Thursday, said the increase reflected the Trust’s commitment to improving the welfare of pensioners.
Mr Biney explained that the increment was intended to enhance the purchasing power of pensioners, particularly in the face of changing economic conditions. He said SSNIT remained committed to ensuring that improvements in the economy translated into better benefits for pensioners, describing them as “the core reason for the Trust’s existence.”
He disclosed that as of December 2025, SSNIT had 261,925 pensioners on its payroll and about 2.2 million active contributors, adding that plans were underway to onboard an additional 200,000 contributors in 2026 to broaden coverage and strengthen the scheme.
The Chief Actuary of SSNIT, Mrs Evelyn Adjei, in a presentation, explained that indexation was a statutory requirement under Section 80 of the National Pensions Act, 2008 (Act 766), which mandates the Trust to annually review pensions in line with wage growth and inflation. She said the 2026 indexation adopted a redistribution approach to favour pensioners in lower income brackets.
Meanwhile, the Concerned SSNIT Pensioners Forum (CSPF) has expressed concern over the pension increases announced by the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), describing them as inadequate and insufficient to address the harsh economic realities confronting retirees, particularly low-income pensioners.
The Forum said that although it acknowledged SSNIT’s effort to adjust pensions, it maintained that the increments fell short of alleviating pensioner poverty and did little to cushion retirees against rising living costs.
In a statement issued by the CSPF and copied to The Ghanaian Times, the Forum, an association of retirees advocating pension justice, equity, and dignified living conditions for pensioners, revealed that it petitioned SSNIT on November 19, 2025, calling for urgent reforms to raise the minimum pension to a livable level and correct persistent inequities in annual pension adjustments.
According to the Forum, it had requested that SSNIT increase the minimum pension to GH¢600.00 and implement pension increments of between 15 and 20 per cent, but the recent increment in pension by SSNIT did not meet their demands.
“In our petition, we requested SSNIT to ensure that the 2026 pension adjustments restore part of the significant erosion in the value of SSNIT pensions caused by years of increases that lag behind inflation and the national minimum wage. This included raising the minimum monthly pension to GH¢600.00 and granting an average increase of 15–20 per cent,” the statement said.
The CSPF further noted that the 2025 minimum monthly pension of GH¢396.58 was grossly inadequate, stressing that it could barely cover medication costs for elderly pensioners, many of whom have become dependent on others for survival.
The petition was also copied to the Minister for Finance, the Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, and the Chief Executive Officer of the National Pensions Authority, seeking their intervention and support.
The Forum argued that annual percentage increases had become meaningless without a guaranteed minimum living pension.
STORIES: KINGSLEY ASARE
🔗 Follow Ghanaian Times WhatsApp Channel today. https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbAjG7g3gvWajUAEX12Q
🌍 Trusted News. Real Stories. Anytime, Anywhere.
✅ Join our WhatsApp Channel now! https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbAjG7g3gvWajUAEX12Q
