Early retirement in Saudi Arabia: months required and the new-law discount

Which rules apply to you

“Early retirement” means drawing your pension before the statutory retirement age. In Saudi Arabia, the contribution months that takes depend on which of three groups you were in on 3 July 2024, the day the amendments and the new Social Insurance Law took effect [1]. Our guide to the Saudi retirement age after July 2024 explains the groups in detail. In short:

• Not affected — 48 years and 6 months or older on that day, or 240 or more uncompensated months: early retirement after 300 months, as before [2].
• Affected — younger, and fewer than 240 uncompensated months: between 300 and 360 months, from GOSI’s table below [1].
• New law — no uncompensated contribution periods before 3 July 2024, including people whose earlier periods were all paid out as compensation: 360 months, and a pension reduced for life [3][4].

For the first two groups, GOSI counts only the contribution months you have not been compensated for [1]. These are pension rules for Saudi nationals; the new law, for example, applies its pension branch to all Saudi employees and workers (Article 14(1)) [4]. LoopNode is not affiliated with GOSI.

Existing laws: 300 to 360 months

For members affected by the amendments, fewer uncompensated months on 3 July 2024 mean more months needed in total. Below 228 months, every 12 months fewer on that day adds 12 to the months you need:

Source: GOSI awareness platform, “المشمولون بالتعديلات”, checked 29 Sep 2026. Our translation.

GOSI adds a condition under the table: to receive an early-retirement pension, a member has to complete the period required by the last system they are in. The exception is where periods in the two systems are combined because of a conversion or privatization of the employer — a government body turned into a company, for example [1].

Examples under the existing laws

The first example is GOSI’s own [1]. We worked out the other two from GOSI’s rules.

The new law: 360 months, up to 10 years early

The Social Insurance Law of 1445 AH covers civil workers with no uncompensated contribution periods before 3 July 2024 [4]. Its statutory age is 65 Gregorian years. Under Article 16, a member who stops working in covered employment may take the pension up to 120 months — ten years — before 65, if they have at least 360 months of contributions [4].

One consequence is easy to miss. A new-law member has no uncompensated months from before 3 July 2024 to count, so 360 months cannot be complete before July 2054. For anyone who starts in their forties or later, the age-55 limit is not what stops them; the 360 months are. That follows from the two rules together; it is our arithmetic, not a separate rule.

The 3% discount

Article 17 of the new law sets the reduction. When the pension is taken early, it is reduced by 3% for every 12 months — and in proportion for each month — counted on whichever is less: the months before reaching 65, or the months by which the member’s contributions fall short of 480. The reduction applies for as long as the pension is paid [4].

The implementing regulation — Minister of Finance decision 230/تأمينات of 26/12/1445 AH — confirms this in Article 36: the Article 17 rates keep applying for the whole time the member receives the pension. The same article counts paid service days in the pension by dividing them by the actual days of the month [5].

The same article works the other way too: a member who qualifies for a pension and keeps working in covered employment after 65 gets an increase of 3% for every 12 months worked after that age [4].

Minimum months, minimum pension, 100% cap

Under the new law, the pension at 65 is 2.25% of your average wage × months of contribution ÷ 12, where the average is taken over the highest-paid 180 months [3]. Four limits shape what you actually receive:

• At least 180 months for a retirement pension. GOSI’s FAQ sets the qualifying period at 180 months [3]. With fewer, Article 25 gives compensation instead, based on the contributions you and your employers paid: in monthly instalments or one payment from 60 months, and one payment below 60 [4]. Disability and death pensions have their own, much shorter periods: 12 consecutive or 18 non-consecutive months for non-occupational disability (Article 19(1)), and 3 consecutive or 6 non-consecutive months for a death in service (Article 23(1)) [4].
• Not more than 100% of the average wage the pension is based on (Article 17) [4].
• A minimum pension of 4,000 riyals a month at 480 months, reduced for each 12 months below 480 — and each month in proportion — down to 2,000 riyals at the 180-month qualifying period (Article 17). The Council of Ministers may change these amounts [4]. In proportion, 360 months gives a minimum of 3,200 riyals (our arithmetic).
• The early-retirement reduction above, when the pension starts before 65.

For comparison, under the existing Social Insurance Law the pension also may not exceed 100% of the average wage, and the monthly minimum is 1,983.75 riyals [6].

A new-law example

This guide explains published rules in English; it is not legal or financial advice. The illustrations of the discount are our reading of the law’s text. Your eligibility and pension are decided by GOSI from your own record.