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Portugal Disability Pension Calculator

How much is Portugal’s disability pension? The Social Security disability pension is calculated like the old-age pension: your career-average salary times the global formation rate, but with shorter qualifying periods (5 years for relative invalidity, 3 for absolute) and legally guaranteed minimum values. Choose the invalidity type, enter your average salary and years of contributions for an educational estimate.

Use the average salary of your whole career (the reference remuneration, on a 14-month basis), not your last salary. Career years are calendar years with registered earnings at Social Security (as a rule, with at least 120 days of contributions).

Relative: you cannot earn more than 1/3 of your salary in your own profession. Absolute: definitive incapacity for any work. The incapacity is always certified by Social Security's Incapacity Verification System (SVI).

Estimated disability pension per month
€599.12
Per year (14 payments)
€8,387.68

The statutory pension (average salary × global formation rate of 49.9%) is above the legal minimum for your case (€394.82), so that is what you receive.

How the figure is reached

Qualifying period (5 years with registered earnings)met
Global formation rate (minimum 30%, maximum 92%)49.9%
Statutory pension (average salary × rate)€599.12
Legal minimum in 2026€394.82 · does not apply
Monthly pension received€599.12

With relative invalidity you may work in a different profession, within accumulation limits (up to 2 times the reference remuneration in the 1st year; in the same profession, up to 100% of the reference remuneration).

Under the voluntary social insurance, the qualifying period for absolute invalidity is 72 months of contributions.

Educational estimate: it uses today's average salary (without the official revaluation of older earnings), assumes the regime of those enrolled since 2002, and does not compute the provisional pension, the supplements or the IRS. The incapacity itself is assessed by the SVI, not by this calculator.

This calculator provides educational estimates and does not constitute financial advice.

Relative or absolute invalidity

Relative invalidity is permanent incapacity for your own profession: you cannot earn more than a third of your salary in it, with no recovery expected within 3 years. Absolute invalidity is definitive incapacity for any work, lasting until the normal retirement age. In both cases the incapacity is assessed and certified by Social Security’s Incapacity Verification System (SVI); the calculator estimates the amount, not the incapacity.

The qualifying period: 5 or 3 years

Entitlement requires 5 calendar years with registered earnings for relative invalidity and 3 years for absolute invalidity (72 months of contributions under the voluntary social insurance). A year counts, as a rule, with at least 120 days of contributions. One important exception: those who exhausted the 1,095 days of sickness benefit and are certified with permanent incapacity qualify with no minimum period at all.

The formula: average salary × formation rate

The statutory pension is the reference remuneration (your career-average monthly salary, on a 14-month basis) multiplied by the global formation rate. Up to 20 years of career the rate is 2% per year, with a global minimum of 30%; from 21 years, the annual rate varies between 2% and 2.3% by salary brackets in multiples of the IAS (€537.13 in 2026), with a global maximum of 92%. It is exactly the old-age pension formula.

The 2026 minimum values

If the statutory pension falls below the legal minimum, you receive the minimum. For relative invalidity the minimum depends on your career: €341.08 under 15 years, €357.80 from 15 to 20, €394.82 from 21 to 30 and €493.52 with 31 or more years. For absolute invalidity the minimum is always €493.52, the value of a 40-year career. The pension is paid 14 times a year, doubled in July and December.

Working while on a disability pension

With absolute invalidity the pension cannot be combined with work income. With relative invalidity you may work in a different profession, within limits: in the profession that led to the pension, up to 100% of the reference remuneration; in a different one, pension + salary is capped at 2 times the reference remuneration in year 1, 1.75 in year 2, 1.5 in year 3 and 1.33 from year 4 on. Pensioners who work and contribute also earn a yearly increase to the pension.

Worked example

Take relative invalidity, a career-average salary of €1,200 and 22 years of contributions. By the brackets: €590.84 at 2.3%, plus €483.42 at 2.25%, plus €125.74 at 2.2% gives about €27.23 per year of career; over 22 years the global rate reaches about 49.9% and the statutory pension is €599.12 a month (€8,387.68 a year, over 14 payments). As it sits above the 21-to-30-year minimum (€394.82), that is what is paid. With low salaries the minimum decides: at €900 and 8 years the statutory figure would be €270 (30%) and the €341.08 minimum is paid instead; for absolute invalidity the minimum is always €493.52.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between relative and absolute invalidity?
Relative invalidity is permanent incapacity for your own profession (you cannot earn more than 1/3 of your salary in it, with no recovery expected within 3 years); absolute invalidity is definitive incapacity for any work until the normal retirement age. Absolute invalidity has a shorter qualifying period (3 years instead of 5), a higher minimum (€493.52 in 2026) and does not allow combining the pension with work.
How many years of contributions does the disability pension require?
As a rule, 5 calendar years with registered earnings for relative invalidity and 3 years for absolute invalidity (72 months under the voluntary social insurance). Those who exhausted the 1,095 days of sickness benefit and are certified by the SVI with permanent incapacity qualify with no minimum period, and receive a provisional pension (€262.40 in 2026) until the verification board’s examination.
How is the disability pension calculated?
With the same formula as the old-age pension: reference remuneration (the career-average monthly salary, 14-month basis) × global formation rate. The rate is 2% per year up to 20 years of career, with a 30% minimum; from 21 years it varies between 2% and 2.3% by salary brackets in multiples of the IAS. If the result falls below the legal minimum, the minimum is paid.
What is the minimum disability pension in 2026?
For relative invalidity it depends on the contributory career: €341.08 under 15 years, €357.80 from 15 to 20 years, €394.82 from 21 to 30 and €493.52 with 31 or more years. For absolute invalidity it is always €493.52, the value corresponding to a 40-year career (Portaria 480-B/2025/1).
Can I work and receive a disability pension?
With absolute invalidity, no: the pension cannot be combined with work income, unemployment benefit or sickness benefit. With relative invalidity you may work in a different profession within limits (up to 2 times the reference remuneration in the 1st year of accumulation, falling to 1.33 from the 4th year on; in the same profession, up to 100%). Pensioners who work and contribute receive a yearly increase: 1/14 of 2% of the previous year’s declared salaries.
What happens to the pension at retirement age?
The disability pension converts into an old-age pension at the normal access age (66 years and 9 months in 2026). The sustainability factor does not apply to the disability pension itself; on conversion it may apply, except for those who, at age 65, had been receiving an absolute disability pension for more than 20 years.

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Author: Thorben Rasmus Idel · Reviewed by: Nahar Geva · Last reviewed: 2026-08-01