How the CNSS calculates your pension
The old-age pension rests on two elements: a reference salary, equal to the average of your most recent declared salaries, and a rate set by your number of contribution days.
The rate starts at 50% once the qualifying threshold is reached, then rises in steps for each additional block of contribution days, up to a maximum. Two ceilings shape everything else: the salary taken into account is capped, and the rate cannot exceed its maximum however long the career.
| Parameter | Value | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Days to qualify | 3,240 days | Below this: no monthly pension |
| Starting rate | 50% | Reached at the qualifying threshold |
| Progression | +1% per 216 days | Roughly +1% per year of contributions |
| Maximum rate | 70% | Absolute ceiling |
| Capped salary | MAD 6,000 / month | Above this, the pension stops rising |
| Statutory retirement age | 60 | Early retirement possible subject to conditions |
Sources: National Social Security Fund (CNSS), the texts governing the old-age pension scheme. Details on the methodology page.
Example: 30 years of contributions, or about 9,360 days. The rate reaches its maximum. With an average salary above the ceiling, the pension is calculated on the ceiling, not on the actual salary - hence the gap that many managers discover too late.
The ceiling, the point nobody anticipates
The CNSS collects contributions and pays pensions on a capped salary. An employee on MAD 6,000 and an employee on MAD 25,000, with the same length of career, receive the same pension.
The replacement rate – the share of your working income that the pension preserves – therefore collapses as the salary rises. For a manager, the CNSS pension alone represents a modest fraction of the final salary. It is this finding that justifies a supplementary pension of the CIMR type or a retirement savings contract, whose effect is all the stronger the earlier it begins.
Our salary calculator shows the other side of the mechanism: the CNSS contribution stops rising above the ceiling, but the AMO contribution carries on.
Count in days, not in years
The CNSS works in declared days, at 26 days per month worked. A full year is therefore worth 312 days. The qualifying threshold corresponds to a little over ten years of declared work.
The word that matters is declared: periods worked without declaration do not exist for the fund, whatever their actual length. Ask for your career statement long before retirement age: regularising a missing period takes time and means finding an employer who still exists.
A career split between two countries
Many Moroccans living abroad have contributed in Morocco and then abroad, or the other way round. Morocco has signed bilateral social security agreements with several European countries, which allow periods to be aggregated for qualifying purposes, each country then paying its share pro rata.
In concrete terms: a career of seven years in Morocco and twenty in France can open a Moroccan entitlement where seven years on their own would not be enough. This calculator models only the Moroccan share. For a mixed career, ask each fund for a statement and have the aggregation calculated – it is technical, but the difference can be substantial.
What this calculator does not do
It estimates the ordinary old-age pension. It does not deal with the invalidity pension, the survivors’ pension, increases for a spouse or dependent children, special schemes, or early retirement and its own conditions.
The official statement of your entitlements belongs to the CNSS. Use this result to decide – whether to take out a supplementary pension, at what age to retire – and have the figures confirmed by the fund before any final decision.
Frequently asked questions
What happens if I do not reach 3,240 days?
Below that threshold there is no monthly pension. Above a minimum number of days, the CNSS pays a single lump-sum allowance, calculated on the contributions paid. The calculator tells you as soon as this applies.
Can you retire before 60?
Early retirement exists subject to conditions, notably with the employer’s agreement and the payment of a contribution. The arrangements are specific and deserve an individual calculation with the fund.
Do my years of contributions in France count?
For qualifying purposes, yes, thanks to the bilateral social security agreements: the periods are aggregated. For the amount, each country pays its share pro rata to the periods completed there. This calculator works out only the Moroccan share.
Is the pension taxable?
Retirement pensions benefit from a specific relief before the income tax scale is applied. The arrangements vary with the amount and with the tax residence of the recipient.
Last updated: January 2026 · Indicative estimate - check with the relevant administration.