A Guide to CASS, the Andorran Social Security System
- elizabethhelenpier
- Dec 18, 2024
- 5 min read
Updated: Feb 19
The Andorran social security system goes under the name of CASS, an acronym that stands for the Caixa Andorrana de Seguritat Social (the Andorran Social Security office). The CASS works much like a ministry for social security, controlling all economical and administrative tasks related to the social security system and the public pension scheme. Are you wondering how the Andorran social security system works? How much you would pay towards social security as a resident in Andorra? Or maybe you want to know what to expect from an Andorran pension?
Social security
Payments
In Andorra your social security payments work differently depending on what kind of residency you have.
Residency with employment (A.1):
On a regular A.1 residency where you are sponsored by an employer to obtain a permit to work and live here, it is the employer’s responsibility to arrange your social security payments. The total payments equate to 22% of your salary. You are responsible to pay 6,5% of this total from your net salary, however your employer will simply take this out of your paycheque. The employer must cover the other 15,5% on top of your net salary. A bit more than half of the payments go towards your pension and the other half goes to paying for your social security cover
Employee payments Employer payments Total
Social security Retirement Social security Retirement
3% 3.5% 7% 8.5% 22%
Passive residency (D.1.1):
As a passive resident you do not pay into the social security system in Andorra. You are instead required by immigration law to always have a private health and disability insurance policy in place to cover your healthcare in Andorra. Furthermore, you will also need to sign a pension scheme with an Andorran entity as part of the requirements for passive residency.
Residency as a business owner (J.1) and (A.1)
Although most people consider the business owner quotas to pay as exclusive to the J.1 residency package, the reality is many of the business owners in Andorra are on A residency permits who have left external employment to become self-employed. The quota for any kind of business owner is the same no matter the residency permit they hold, and the amount is based on 22% of the average salary in Andorra. As of current in 2025 the quota to pay is €563.42 per month. 12% of this quantity goes towards you pension and the other 10% towards your social security. As the average salary increases in Andorra, with it, the monthly quota for business owners does also.
During your first 2 years of business activity, you can apply to pay a discounted rate of 50% of this quota. Furthermore, following the 2-year discount period, if business is slow, the year following the monthly payment will be charged at a lower percent. Conversely, if business goes very well CASS will charge you over this amount. These percents go from 25% up to 137.5% of the regular €563.42 quota.
Cover
While you are paying your social security payments monthly you will always be covered in the Andorran system. The renewal of your active residency is also reliant on these payments being made in a timely manner. The actual medical cover is not 100% in most cases however, rather CASS covers a certain percent of your treatment depending on what it is. You are expected to pay the rest. The following are the percents to expect, that CASS covers:
75% = all general medicine and regular medications
90% = any hospital treatment or surgery
100% = birth and work-related accident or illness
33% = for self-elected treatments that do not have the agreement of your GP
You can get a “top up” private healthcare insurance to cover the extra percent not covered by CASS. The cost varies depending on age and any previous illnesses but will be approximately 50-100€ a month.
Pension
As we mention above, whether a business owner or an employee, you will pay a 12% of your salary towards your public pension fund. This fund works on points. CASS points have a public price. Each time you pay a social security payment you are securing points. In 2025 the cost to purchase a point is €25.93, meaning if you are paying the business owner quota of €563.42 monthly and 12% goes towards your pension, you are buying approximately 11.5 CASS points a month.
The sale price value of your points is in fact €2.70 however. To obtain a pension, you need to work for a minimum of 15 years in Andorra leading up to the date of your retirement if you remain a resident during said retirement. If you leave Andorra to live elsewhere for your retirement you will only have rights to a pension after 15 years of employment here. If you do not reach these 5-15 years of employment, you will instead of a pension be given a lump sum payment. This payment will depend on the value of points at the current time of withdrawal. If for example you work for 10 years paying the same business owner CASS payments as of today, you will be looking at a lump sum payment of around €3,600.00.
If you work 15 years, and as an example pay the business owner quota as of current for the entire period. You would be looking at an approximate pension of €450,00 monthly in today’s pricing. As can be observed the quantities are minimal so it is always worth looking into private pension funds to top this off.
The social security deficit in Andorra
Most years the Andorra social security system is in deficit. In the first trimester of 2024 the numbers were the following:
€44.7 million of social security payments were made to CASS
€4.5 million was received in pension funds
€34.8 million were spent towards healthcare costs
€18.8 million were spent on pensions and medical leave
The total deficit of the Andorra social security system was therefore €4.4 million in 2023. This yearly deficit adds up to around €25-50 million every year.
There is no defined action plan to resolve this situation, but the Parliament and the Legislative Committee of the CASS are currently working on a potential modification of the CASS system to reduce the debt in future years.
