AOW for Expats: How the Dutch State Pension Works

You build 2% of a full AOW for each year you are insured during the 50 years before your AOW age. A full AOW therefore requires 50 insured years. Living in the Netherlands, or working here and paying Dutch national insurance, normally makes you insured.

An expat who lives here for 12 years builds roughly 24% of a full AOW. Years insured in another EU country, or in a country with a social security treaty, can count towards that country's state pension instead.

What happens to your Dutch pension when you leave

The AOW age is linked to life expectancy and announced years in advance. Confirmed so far: 67 in 2026 and 2027, and 67 years and 3 months from 2028 to 2031. For 2032 and later, check the SVB AOW-age tool, as those ages have not yet been set.

If you arrive at 45, you can build at most the insured years left before your AOW age — roughly 22 years, or about 44% of a full AOW. Years you were insured in an EU/EEA country or a treaty country are not added to your Dutch AOW, but that country usually pays its own state pension for them.

If your AOW will be low, check whether you are entitled to a pension from your home country and plan extra savings. People living in the Netherlands with income below the social minimum may be able to get a supplement from the SVB, subject to conditions.

A full AOW is not the same for everyone. Single people receive a higher amount than each partner in a couple, because a shared household is assumed to have lower costs. Living together counts as a couple even if you are not married. The SVB publishes current gross and net amounts twice a year.

If you leave the Netherlands you keep the AOW rights you already built. In some cases you can continue to build AOW through voluntary insurance with the SVB; strict application deadlines apply after you leave, so arrange this before or immediately after moving.

AOW can be paid to most countries abroad. Whether the Netherlands or your new country taxes it depends on the tax treaty.

Log in to Mijn SVB with DigiD to see your insured years and expected AOW, and mijnpensioenoverzicht.nl for AOW combined with workplace pensions. Then use the Pension & FIRE Calculator to see how a partial AOW fits your wider retirement plan.