AVS contribution gaps: how to spot them, cost them and close them

The rule: 44 years for a full pension

A full AVS pension requires a complete contribution period: 44 years, from 1 January after your 20th birthday until the reference age (65). Each year without contributions moves your pension onto a lower scale. As a rule of thumb, one missing year reduces the pension by about 1/44th, or 2.3%, and that reduction applies throughout your retirement.

On the maximum pension of CHF 2,520 a month, one missing year costs about CHF 57 a month, close to CHF 687 a year, and about CHF 745 a year once the 13th pension paid from December 2026 is included.

Where do the gaps come from?

The most common causes are years of study after 20 without paying the minimum contribution, time abroad (work, travel, sabbaticals), a period without paid work that was not reported to the compensation office, or arriving in Switzerland later in life. Anyone who arrived in Switzerland after turning 20 has missing years by definition from the AVS point of view, even if they contributed elsewhere.

A gap does not only arise when you do not work at all. If in a given year you contributed only a small amount, below the minimum contribution, that year may not count as a full year, unless your spouse covers your contributions (see below).

Checking your years: the individual account statement

Each compensation office keeps an individual account (IK/CI) for you, listing year by year the income on which you paid contributions. You can request an extract free of charge, online via the AVS/IV Information Centre website (ahv-iv.ch) or directly from your compensation office. The request covers every office you have been affiliated with.

On the extract, look for years with no entry at all, or with a very low amount. Check the last five years first: they are the only ones you can still fill. You can also ask for an advance pension calculation, which is useful from your forties onwards to see the real effect of your gaps.

Closing a gap: the five-year rule

Unpaid AVS contributions can only be claimed and paid within five years of the end of the calendar year concerned. After that, the gap is permanent. Contributions paid back carry default interest.

Paying back AVS contributions is almost always worth it. For a non-employed person, a year is filled with the minimum contribution, around CHF 530 a year on the 2025-2026 scale (adjusted periodically). For someone who would qualify for the maximum pension, that year is worth about CHF 745 of pension a year, for life: the outlay is recovered in the very first year of retirement.

Youth years, additional years and spouses

Some gaps can be closed without paying anything. Contributions paid between 18 and 20 (youth years, for example during an apprenticeship) can be used to fill missing years later on. For people insured before 1973, additional contribution years may also be taken into account. The compensation office applies these rules automatically when calculating your pension.

Married non-employed persons are deemed to have contributed if their working spouse pays at least twice the minimum contribution, about CHF 1,060 a year. That is almost always the case when the spouse works full time. The same applies to a spouse who works unpaid in the other spouse's business.

Years spent abroad

Years worked in an EU or EFTA country do not fill the gaps in your Swiss pension: under the bilateral agreements, they count towards a pension from that country, and each state pays its own partial pension at retirement. The same applies, under the terms of each agreement, to countries that have a social security agreement with Switzerland.

If you move outside the EU/EFTA, you can, under certain conditions (in particular having been insured for at least five consecutive years just before leaving), join voluntary AVS to avoid new gaps. You must apply within one year of leaving compulsory insurance.

Building your gaps into your plan

A gap of two or three years may seem minor; over a whole retirement, it often adds up to CHF 30,000 to 45,000. In RetirePlan, you enter your contribution years and the planner estimates your AVS pension accordingly, including the 13th pension, then adds it to your 2nd and 3rd pillars. You see straight away whether a gap changes the age at which you can retire.

The planner is entirely free. If you would like your situation reviewed, an analysis with an expert is available as an option.

Frequently asked questions

How much does one missing AVS contribution year cost?

About 1/44th of the pension, or 2.3%, for life. On the maximum pension of CHF 2,520, that is about CHF 57 a month, or close to CHF 745 a year including the 13th pension.

How do I know if I have AVS contribution gaps?

Request a free extract of your individual account (IK/CI), online at ahv-iv.ch or from your compensation office. It lists the income you contributed on, year by year.

Can I pay back missing AVS years?

Only for the last five calendar years: beyond that, the contributions are time-barred and the gap becomes permanent. Contributions paid back carry default interest.

Do I have to pay AVS contributions if I am not working?

Yes, from 1 January after your 20th birthday until the reference age, as a non-employed person, unless your spouse pays at least twice the minimum contribution. The minimum contribution is around CHF 530 a year (2025-2026 scale).

Do years worked abroad count for the AVS?

No, they do not fill Swiss gaps. In the EU/EFTA, they give entitlement to a partial pension from the country concerned, paid on top of your partial AVS pension.

Can youth years fill a gap?

Yes. Contributions paid between 18 and 20 can fill later missing years. The compensation office takes them into account automatically when calculating your pension.