Social security contributions (Sozialversicherungsbeiträge)

Level 2 · FoundationsDE · 2026 figures

German termSozialversicherungsbeiträge

Read firstGross vs. net income

Used byStatutory vs. private health insurance (GKV/PKV) · Long-term-care gap · Statutory pension

Deep divesIncome Tax (Einkommensteuer) · Health Insurance (Krankenversicherung)

Social security contributions (Sozialversicherungsbeiträge) are the four mandatory insurance payments withheld from gross pay: pension, health, unemployment, and long-term care insurance. Employers and employees split the cost roughly half and half. Unlike Lohnsteuer (wage tax), contributions are not a tax — they buy entitlements: pension points, health cover, and unemployment benefit eligibility.

Why it matters

For a typical employee, the Sozialversicherung (social insurance) block is comparable in size to Lohnsteuer (wage tax) — often larger at ordinary income levels — yet the two work differently. Taxes fund general government spending; contributions buy specific, individually tracked entitlements: pension points that convert into a monthly Rente (pension) decades later, guaranteed access to Krankenversicherung (health insurance) treatment, and eligibility for Arbeitslosengeld (unemployment benefit) if a job ends. Each branch is capped at a Beitragsbemessungsgrenze (contribution assessment ceiling): above that gross-income threshold, no further contributions are owed in that branch, so the effective contribution rate falls as income rises past the ceiling.

The 2026 branches

Branch	Total rate (2026)	Employee share (2026)
Rentenversicherung (pension insurance)	18.6% [1]	9.3%
Krankenversicherung (health insurance)	14.6% base plus ~2.9% average Zusatzbeitrag (additional contribution) — roughly 17.5% total [2]	~8.75% (7.3% plus half the average Zusatzbeitrag)
Arbeitslosenversicherung (unemployment insurance)	2.6% [2]	1.3%
Pflegeversicherung (long-term care insurance)	3.6%, plus a 0.6-percentage-point childless surcharge for contributors age 23+ without children, paid by the employee alone [2]	1.8% (with a child) / 2.4% (childless, age 23+)

Two separate Beitragsbemessungsgrenzen (contribution assessment ceilings) apply in 2026: €8,450/month (€101,400/year) for pension and unemployment insurance, and €5,812.50/month (€69,750/year) for health and long-term care insurance [1]. Gross income above these thresholds is simply not counted for that branch — the euro amount owed stops growing even though the salary keeps rising.

Worked example

Take the same illustrative single employee as the gross-vs-net-income card: €4,000/month gross, no children, outside Saxony, 2026. None of the four branches reach their ceiling at this income, so each rate applies to the full €4,000.

Branch	Employee rate	Monthly amount
Rentenversicherung	9.3%	€372
Krankenversicherung	~8.75%	€350
Arbeitslosenversicherung	1.3%	€52
Pflegeversicherung (childless)	2.4%	€96
Total	~21.75%	€870

Total employee contributions land around €870/month — a sum larger than this employee's Lohnsteuer withholding of roughly €505/month at the same income (2026). Both come out of the same Brutto (gross) figure, but only the €870 buys pension points, health cover, and benefit eligibility in return.

Check yourself

Both Lohnsteuer (wage tax) and Sozialversicherung (social insurance) contributions are withheld from Brutto (gross) pay. What is the key difference between the two, from the employee's perspective?

None — both are just labels for the same kind of deduction.Contributions create individually tracked entitlements (pension points, health cover, unemployment-benefit eligibility); taxes fund general government spending with no direct individual claim in return.Taxes are optional above a certain income; contributions are not.Contributions are paid entirely by the employer; taxes are paid entirely by the employee.

An employee earns €10,000/month gross in 2026 — above the Rentenversicherung (pension insurance) Beitragsbemessungsgrenze (contribution assessment ceiling) of €8,450/month. Using the 2026 employee rate of 9.3%, how many euros does this employee contribute to Rentenversicherung that month?

Same employee as above (€10,000/month gross, 2026), paying €785.85 to Rentenversicherung. Expressed as a share of the full €10,000 gross — not just the capped base — what happens to this employee's effective pension contribution rate compared to someone earning below the ceiling?

It's lower than 9.3% (about 7.9%), because the ceiling caps the contribution base while the gross salary keeps growing.It's exactly 9.3%, the same as below the ceiling.It's higher than 9.3%, since income above the ceiling carries a surcharge.It's 0%, because income above the ceiling isn't insured at all.

Using the 2026 employee-share rates — Rentenversicherung 9.3%, Krankenversicherung ~8.75%, Arbeitslosenversicherung 1.3%, Pflegeversicherung 2.4% (childless, age 23+) — what is the total employee social-security deduction, in euros, for a €4,000/month gross salary? None of the four branches reach their ceiling at this income.

Sources

1. Deutsche Rentenversicherung Knappschaft-Bahn-See — Die Sozialversicherungsrechengrößen 2026 (Beitragssatz Rentenversicherung 18,6%; Beitragsbemessungsgrenzen €8.450/Monat RV/ALV, €5.812,50/Monat KV/PV), https://www.deutsche-rentenversicherung.de/KnappschaftBahnSee/DE/Aktuelles/Meldungen/2026/2026_01_02_Sozialversicherungsrechengroessen2026 (2026)

2. Techniker Krankenkasse (TK) — Aktuelle Beitragssätze in der Sozialversicherung 2026, https://www.tk.de/firmenkunden/versicherung/beitraege-faq/beitragssaetze/aktuelle-beitragssaetze-in-der-sozialversicherung-2031554 (2026)