Civil service pension fund ABP has become the last of the big five funds to announce its payouts for next year – and has opted for an increase of almost 12%.

ABP is the biggest pension fund in the Netherlands and one of the biggest in the world with €461 in assets under management at the end of October. Almost one million people in the Netherlands currently enjoy an ABP pension.

‘Hopefully this will ease the situation for our pensioners after prices have risen so sharply,’ fund chairman Harmen van Wijnen said. ‘If you have a net pension of €1,000, this means an extra €120 a month.’

ABP raised pensions by 2.39% in July and this was the first increase in 10 years.

The two big engineering funds, the health service fund and the construction industry fund have all announced rises in pensions next year, ranging from 4% to 14.5%.

The increase has been made possible because the funds’ coverage ratios – the assets they need to meet their obligations – have all gone above the required 105%, due in the main to rising interest rates.

The state pension AOW is also rising by 10% in 2023.