*Update 02.12.2024 here’s the official announcement of the 2024 annual update of remuneration and pensions**Update 21.11.2024 check out the European Court of Auditors, 2024, Special report 24/2024: EU Civil service–A flexible employment framework, insufficiently used to improve workforce management: it concludes that
‘While the purchasing power of EU staff has decreased more than that of national civil servants, salaries remain on a par with what other international organisations offer their staff.‘ (Paragraph 101)*
Original article: Eurostat has released its 2024 annual update report right on time at the end of October. As seems to become the norm now, it is not enough to give just one number, but we have two numbers this time:
- The residual update with retrospective effect as of 1 July 2024 is +4.1% and you will see this update on your December payslip;
- There will be another update of +1.2% as of 1 April 2025 (yes, next year indeed).
Of course, this requires some explanations: as usually, these explanations below are simplified and you can find the details in Eurostat’s report.
Our salary update consists of two main components, measured during the reference period 1 July 2023 – 1 July 2024:
- The development of the real, net income of national officials in the EU member states. This is measured by the Global Specific Indicator (GSI). For the reference period, this value is +3.2%.
- The inflation during the reference period, measuring via the Joint Belgium-Luxembourg Index (JBLI). For the reference period, this inflation amounts to +5.1%.
In total, these two values add up for a total update of +8.5[*]. We already had an intermediate update of +3.0% with a retrospective effect as of 1 January 2024. The remaining +5.3% are split as we have mentioned about: +4.1% retrospectively as of 1 July 2024 and the remaining +1.2% as of April next year.
Now, why this update next year? Be our guest in diving into the staff regulations; in this case, article 10 of Annex XI of the staff regulations, also known as the “moderation clause”:
The value of the specific indicator used for the annual update shall be subject to an upper limit of 2 % and a lower limit of – 2 %. If the value of the specific indicator exceeds the upper limit or is below the lower limit, then the value of the limit shall be used to calculate the update value.
The first paragraph shall not apply when Article 11 applies.
The remainder of the annual update resulting from the difference between the update value calculated with the specific indicator and the update value calculated with the limit shall be applied as from 1 April of the following year.
If you look earlier in this article, you will see that the GSI value was +3.2%. And the split into 2.0% and +1.2% is giving us exactly the update in April next year.
Some of you might remember the exception clause from past articles. Suffice to say that the exception clause will not apply, because the forecast for the GDP evolution in the EU in real terms is positive for 2024.
Lastly, the Eurostat report updates the correction coefficients for all duty stations. If you work within the EU (excluding Brussels and Luxembourg), refer to table 10.2 on page 33. If you work outside the EU, consult table 12.2 on pages 55-57.
Update 05 November 2024: colleagues have reached out to us and enquired about the potential changes in the pension contribution rate (PCR). At this point in time, Eurostat has not yet published its report, so we don’t know. However, if you look at page 20 of Eurostat’s 2023 report, you see that the 2023 increase to the PCR was capped at the maximum value of +1.0%. We therefore consider that, unfortunately, it is rather likely that the PCR will increase again this year. Or course, we will keep you informed once we receive confirmed numbers.
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[*] We’ve said ‘add up’ but really these are not additive, but multiplicative. Therefore, the +3.2% and +5.1% update cannot be added, but must be multiplied: 1.032 * 1.051 = 1.0846 ≈ 1.085 => +8.5%. Apologies for any confusion caused and thanks to all who got in touch!
