Government Pension Calculator Sri Lanka
Enter the last drawn consolidated salary and the length of service to estimate the monthly pension under the Minutes on Pensions, along with how close the service is to the point where the cap makes further years add nothing.
The consolidated salary at retirement, not the starting salary.
The formula
Monthly pension = last salary × months of service ÷ 480, capped at 90% of salary. At least 120 months of unbroken service is needed to qualify.
Monthly pension
LKR 90,000
75.0% of the last drawn salary · LKR 1,080,000 a year
Progress toward the 90% cap
75.0%One more year of service would add LKR 3,000 a month, for life.
This is the basic pension only. It excludes the commuted gratuity taken as a lump sum at retirement, the Widows’ and Orphans’ Pension deduction, and any cost-of-living allowance granted to pensioners. Confirm your entitlement with the Department of Pensions before making a retirement decision.
How the pension is worked out
The formula scales the last drawn salary by service: salary multiplied by months of service, divided by 480. Four hundred and eighty months is forty years, so each year of service is worth 2.5% of the salary.
The result is then capped at 90% of the last drawn salary. Because 480 months would produce 100%, the cap binds well before forty years - at 432 months, exactly 36 years.
| Service | Months | Share of salary |
|---|---|---|
| 10 years | 120 | 25.0% |
| 20 years | 240 | 50.0% |
| 30 years | 360 | 75.0% |
| 36 years | 432 | 90.0% - the cap |
| 40 years | 480 | 90.0% - still the cap |
The ten-year qualifying period
A pension requires at least 120 months of unbroken service. Below that there is no entitlement at all, rather than a reduced one, which makes the ten-year mark a genuine cliff edge for anyone considering leaving the public service early.
Because the requirement is for continuous service, breaks in employment can affect the count. Where service has been interrupted, confirm how the Department of Pensions treats it before relying on a projection.
What each year of service is worth
The formula divides by 480 months, so each month of pensionable service is worth one four-hundred-and-eightieth of the last drawn salary - and each full year is worth twelve of those, or 2.5% of salary. Ten years of service therefore produces 25% of the last salary, twenty years 50%, and thirty years 75%.
The 90% cap is reached at 432 months, which is 36 years. Service beyond that point does not increase the basic pension, so someone already past 36 years of pensionable service gains nothing further from the length of service alone - though a higher last drawn salary still raises the pension, because the whole calculation scales with it.
Why the last salary matters more than the average
The pension is calculated against the salary drawn at retirement, not an average across the career. A promotion or salary revision shortly before retirement therefore lifts the entire pension, not just the final years of contribution.
The corollary is that once the 90% cap has been reached, additional years of service add nothing to the basic pension. At that point the only thing that still moves the figure is the salary itself.
- Optional retirement is generally available from 55, with compulsory retirement later.
- The commuted gratuity is a separate lump sum taken at retirement.
- Widows' and Orphans' Pension is a contributory scheme deducted during service.
- Cost-of-living allowances for pensioners are granted separately by policy.
What sits outside the basic monthly pension
The figure here is the basic monthly pension and nothing else. A retiring public servant may also commute part of the pension into a lump sum, which reduces the monthly amount for a defined period in exchange for cash at retirement, and that trade-off is not modelled here.
Contributions to the Widows' and Orphans' Pension scheme are deducted during service and provide separately for dependants, so they neither add to nor subtract from the basic pension shown. Cost-of-living allowances granted to pensioners from time to time also sit outside this calculation.
Entitlement itself depends on the rules applying to your appointment and service, including whether particular periods count as pensionable. The Department of Pensions is the authority on both the entitlement and the final figure, and this estimate is a planning aid rather than a statement of what you will be paid.