When are salaries indexed in Belgium?
It depends on your joint committee. Some sectors index whenever the pivot index is crossed, others on fixed dates. In Joint Committee 200, salaries are indexed once a year on 1 January, as the Social Fund 200 explains.
The mechanism itself is described in our definition of automatic wage indexation. It is owed by law and sector agreement: you do not have to ask for it.
How is the CP 200 indexation percentage calculated?
It compares the average smoothed health index of November and December of the current year with the same two months of the previous year. The result is applied to both actual salaries and the minimum scales.
On 1 January 2026, the increase was 2.21%, as Securex and ACV reported in December 2025. The percentage for 1 January 2027 will only be known in mid-December 2026, once the December index is published.
What is the cents index, and does it affect you?
It is a temporary cap on indexation for higher salaries, introduced by the programme law published in the Belgian Official Gazette on 1 June 2026 and applicable from that date, as UVCW and Loyens & Loeff summarise.
If your fixed gross salary is above €4,000 a month, the first 2% of indexation is calculated on €4,000 only, so €80 at most. Any indexation above 2% applies to your whole salary. Example: on €5,000 with 3% indexation, you receive €130 instead of €150. In CP 200, it applies for the first time to the indexation of 1 January 2027. Salaries of €4,000 or less keep full indexation.
How do you check that your salary was indexed correctly?
Compare your January payslip with your December one. The increase in your gross monthly salary should match the sector percentage, applied as described above if you are above €4,000.
If it does not, ask your HR or payroll provider first: most errors come from variable pay or from a salary that was renegotiated in the same month. Remember that indexation preserves purchasing power, it is not a raise. If you are discussing pay at an interview, keep the two apart, as explained in negotiating salary during interviews.
