On Wednesday 14 October the State Duma passed in first reading a government bill under the headline "Certain issues of pension indexation are being improved". The title sent many pensioners searching for news about their own 2027 increase. The bill itself is narrower: it covers pension money that the Social Fund of Russia was ordered by a court to pay and paid late.
The general 2027 numbers sit in a different document, the Social Fund budget for 2027–2029, which the government sent to the Duma on 1 October. Insurance pensions are to rise twice in 2027: by an estimated 6.8% from 1 February and by a further 3.3% from 1 April. It is the first time since 2017 that pensions follow the February-plus-April schedule written into the pension law.
What the State Duma passed on 14 October
Bill No. 1327032-8 adds a rule to the law "On Insurance Pensions" on indexing pension sums awarded by a court. If a court orders the Social Fund to recalculate a pension or its fixed payment and to pay arrears, and the money is not paid in time, the debt will be indexed from the first day after the end of the month following the month in which the ruling took effect. A ruling that takes effect on 10 March, for example, starts indexation on 1 May.
The bill implements Constitutional Court ruling No. 19-P of 31 March 2026, issued on a complaint from a pensioner whose court-awarded pension was paid late. "There is a court decision, but no indexation. Time passes, and the sum loses value," Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin said during the debate. Second and third readings are still ahead. The bill does not change the size of anyone's regular pension.
Pension indexation in 2027: 6.8% in February, 3.3% in April
The Ministry of Labour described the plan on 24 September, when it sent the Social Fund budget to the government:
- 1 February 2027: insurance pensions are indexed by actual inflation for 2026, currently estimated at 6.8%.
- 1 April 2027: a second increase of 3.3%, linked to Social Fund revenue and to the gap between wage growth and inflation.
- Average old-age insurance pension: up by about RUB 2,600 over the year to about RUB 29,900. The budget documents give RUB 29,904 at the end of 2027.
Igor Balynin of the Financial University, quoted by NEWS.ru, puts the expected average at the end of 2026 at RUB 27,321.21 and the end-2027 figure at RUB 29,903.81. Simple arithmetic on that average, with the April step applied to the pension-points part, gives about RUB 29,800, close to the official projection.
Together the two steps add about 10.3% to the pension-points part of the pension. Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova repeated the 6.8% and 3.3% after the budget was submitted, and Finance Minister Anton Siluanov named RUB 29,904 as the end-2027 average.
The Social Fund budget for 2027 has revenue of RUB 19.914 trillion and spending of RUB 19.883 trillion, a surplus of about RUB 31 billion, RIA Novosti reported. Of roughly RUB 20 trillion the fund will pay out in 2027, almost RUB 13.4 trillion goes on pensions, according to the Ministry of Labour.
Why some sites still say 4% and 3.4%
Some articles, including one on 360.ru, give a different pair: 4% from 1 February and 3.4% from 1 April 2027. That article is dated 4 October 2025. It describes the previous budget package for 2026–2028, adopted as Federal Law No. 427-FZ of 28 November 2025, in which 2027 was only a planning year and inflation was assumed to fall to about 4%.
The February step is tied by law to actual inflation of the previous year. The new draft replaces the old 4% assumption with the current estimate of 6.8% for 2026, and the April step moves from 3.4% to 3.3%. Combined, the old plan meant about 7.5% for 2027; the new one means about 10.3%.
Pension point and fixed payment for 2027
An insurance pension is the number of pension points (IPK) multiplied by the cost of one point, plus a fixed payment. According to the Social Fund, since 1 January 2026 one point costs RUB 156.76 and the fixed payment is RUB 9,584.69, after a 7.6% indexation.
Applying the draft percentages:
- From 1 February 2027: one point about RUB 167.42, fixed payment about RUB 10,236.45 (+6.8%).
- From 1 April 2027: one point about RUB 172.94 (+3.3%). The April step applies to the insurance part, so the fixed payment stays at the February level.
These are averin.com calculations from the draft. The exact values will be set by government resolution once Rosstat publishes 2026 inflation.
The chart shows the path since 2022: +8.6% in January 2022, an extra 10% in June 2022, then +4.8%, +7.5%, +9.5% and +7.6% in each January from 2023 to 2026.
How much a pension of RUB 20,000, 25,000 or 30,000 grows
The examples assume an old-age pension with the standard fixed payment and no regional or northern supplements. February adds 6.8% to the whole pension; April adds 3.3% to everything except the fixed payment.
| Pension in January 2027 | From 1 February | From 1 April | Gain per month |
|---|---|---|---|
| RUB 20,000 | RUB 21,360 | RUB 21,727 | +RUB 1,727 (+8.6%) |
| RUB 25,000 | RUB 26,700 | RUB 27,243 | +RUB 2,243 (+9.0%) |
| RUB 30,000 | RUB 32,040 | RUB 32,760 | +RUB 2,760 (+9.2%) |
The larger the pension, the larger the share earned by pension points, and the more the April step adds. A pensioner with RUB 20,000 gets about RUB 367 in April; one with RUB 30,000 gets about RUB 720.
Social pensions, military pensions and working pensioners
Social pensions are paid to people without enough insurance record, among others. They are indexed once a year, on 1 April, in line with growth in the pensioner subsistence minimum. The preliminary estimate is 6.8%. Balynin expects the average social pension to rise from RUB 16,466 to about RUB 17,586, roughly RUB 1,100 more.
Military pensions are calculated from a share of serving personnel's pay. Bill No. 619-9, part of the budget package, raises that share from 93.59% to 97.34% with effect from 1 October 2026, which the explanatory note says lifts pensions by 4%. If the bill passes, the increase will be paid retroactively from 1 October. The same bill keeps the share at 97.34% for all of 2027, suspending the usual annual increase of two percentage points, so any rise in October 2027 would depend on a separate decision on military pay.
Working pensioners have had their pensions indexed again since 1 January 2025, so both 2027 steps apply to them. On 1 August 2027 the Social Fund will also recalculate their pensions for contributions paid by employers in 2026, without an application. The increase is capped at three pension points, about RUB 519 a month at the April 2027 point cost.
What can still change
The 6.8% is an estimate. The final February percentage depends on Rosstat's figure for inflation in 2026, published in January, and both budget bills still need three Duma readings. If inflation comes in higher, the February step should be larger, because the law ties it to actual prices.
In analyst Ruslan Averin's view, the two-step formula matters more than the headline number. February only restores purchasing power lost in 2026. The April step is the real gain, and it depends on Social Fund revenue and wage growth, which makes it the figure to watch if the economy slows. For a pensioner with RUB 25,000, the April step is worth about RUB 543 a month.
Related: why the Finance Ministry is courting retail buyers of OFZ, what the Bank of Russia actually said about cash and savings and the average pension in Ukraine in October 2026.