CNPS contributions Ivory Coast: 2026 rates and ceilings

CNPS contributions Ivory Coast employers pay amount to 14% of salary for the pension (7.7% employer, 6.3% employee, up to 3,375,000 FCFA a month), to which the employer adds 5% for family benefits, 0.75% for maternity and 2 to 5% for work injury on a 70,000 FCFA ceiling, plus the flat CMU health contribution. Below are the rates in force in 2026, the contribution base, two worked examples, the filing calendar and the mistakes that trigger reassessments.

CNPS contributions Ivory Coast: the 2026 rates

The CNPS (Caisse nationale de prévoyance sociale, the national social security fund) runs the scheme for private-sector employees. The rates below are those published on 1 January 2025 and still in force in 2026.

The employee therefore bears only two lines: 6.3% pension and their CMU share. All other CNPS contributions Ivory Coast employers declare are paid by the employer.

Two ceilings, not one

The pension ceiling is indexed to the minimum wage (SMIG): 45 times 75,000 FCFA, or 3,375,000 FCFA since the increase of 1 January 2023. The three employer branches (family, maternity, work injury) remain capped at 70,000 FCFA. As soon as an employee earns more than 70,000 FCFA, which is true of anyone above the minimum wage, these three branches become a fixed amount: 3,500 FCFA of family benefits and 525 FCFA of maternity per month.

The work injury rate

The 2% to 5% rate depends on the risk level of the establishment’s activity, as notified by the CNPS. A service company generally sits at the low end, while a construction site or industrial operation can reach the top. Check the rate in your employer file before configuring payroll: it is the most frequent gap between an internal calculation and the fund’s statement.

What base do CNPS contributions Ivory Coast apply to?

The base is the employee’s gross pay: base salary, additional salary, bonuses, overtime and benefits. Reimbursements of actual expenses are excluded. The calculation base cannot be lower than the minimum wage, set at 75,000 FCFA a month for a 40-hour week.

CMU follows a different logic: 1,000 FCFA per covered person per month, split equally. The employer also pays half of the contribution for a spouse without employment and up to six children under 21 or with disabilities. Since July 2020, the CNPS has collected CMU on behalf of the CNAM (the national health insurance fund), which is why it appears on the same return as the CNPS contributions Ivory Coast employers file.

Two worked examples of CNPS contributions Ivory Coast

As an illustration, compare a security guard earning 150,000 FCFA gross and a finance director earning 4,000,000 FCFA gross, both single without children, in a company with a 2% work injury rate.

The employer burden is 11.65% of gross for the first employee and 6.6% for the second: the ceilings make CNPS contributions Ivory Coast regressive at high salaries. At a 5% work injury rate, add 2,100 FCFA per employee per month. What these deductions mean for take-home pay, ITS included, is set out in our guide to net salary calculation in Ivory Coast.

What is not a CNPS item

On an Ivorian payslip, several levies look like social contributions but are taxes declared to the DGI (the tax authority):

• ITS, withheld from the employee under the single progressive scale in force since 1 January 2024;
• the employer national contribution of 1.2% and, for expatriate staff only, the 9.2% employer contribution;
• the apprenticeship tax (0.4%) and the additional continuing training tax (1.2%), collected for the FDFP, the vocational training fund.

In total, these employer payroll taxes come to 2.8% for local staff and 12% for expatriate staff. Mixing them up with CNPS contributions Ivory Coast leads to returns sent to the wrong body.

Filing and payment calendar

• Frequency: employers with 20 or more employees file and pay monthly, those with fewer than 20 quarterly.
• Deadline: payment is due within the first 15 days following the month or quarter.
• Channel: returns and payments are made online on the e-CNPS portal.
• DISA: the annual individual salary declaration is sent to the CNPS before 31 March of the following year; it must match the sum of the periodic returns.

The number under which contributions are paid is one of the mandatory items on the payslip. The full list is in our payslip guide for Ivory Coast. The official guides are available in the CNPS employer area.

Special cases

Employees above the ceiling

Above 3,375,000 FCFA, the pension is fixed at 212,625 FCFA for the employee and 259,875 FCFA for the employer. Back pay or an annual bonus paid in a month already at the ceiling therefore generates no additional pension contribution.

Minimum wage increases

The pension ceiling and the minimum base follow the minimum wage. When a new decree raises it, the ceiling moves with it: payroll settings should be linked to the minimum wage, not hard-coded. The legal framework is set out in our article on the minimum wage in Ivory Coast.

Large families

Beyond six children, CMU for the additional children is paid entirely by the employee. A married employee with eight children thus pays 500 FCFA for themselves, their spouse and six children, then 1,000 FCFA for each of the last two.

Termination

The final payslip often combines salary, notice pay and leave pay. Check the nature of each amount before adding it to the base, especially severance pay in Ivory Coast, which follows its own rules.

Mistakes that lead to reassessments

1. Applying the 70,000 FCFA ceiling to the pension, or the 3,375,000 FCFA ceiling to the employer branches.
2. Treating CMU as a percentage or forgetting declared dependants.
3. Keeping an old work injury rate after the fund has notified a new one.
4. Leaving gaps between periodic returns and the DISA, which the fund detects at year end.
5. Paying after the 15th: late payment leads to surcharges claimed by the CNPS.

Automating CNPS contributions Ivory Coast

The calculation is simple for one employee but gets complicated with dozens of profiles, dependants and rates. Test your cases with the simulator and payroll software that calculates CNPS contributions Ivory Coast: Socium payroll applies both ceilings and CMU per dependant, and prepares e-CNPS returns. To compare with other countries in the region, see our overview of social contributions in French-speaking Africa.

Frequently asked questions

What is the total rate of CNPS contributions Ivory Coast?

14% for the pension (7.7% employer, 6.3% employee) up to 3,375,000 FCFA, plus 7.75% to 10.75% paid by the employer for family, maternity and work injury on a 70,000 FCFA ceiling, plus the flat CMU.

What is the employee share of CNPS contributions Ivory Coast?

6.3% of gross pay for the pension, up to the ceiling, and 500 FCFA of CMU per covered person.

When are CNPS contributions due?

Within 15 days after the end of the month for employers with 20 or more employees, or after the end of the quarter for the others, via e-CNPS.

Do CNPS contributions reduce ITS?

No. Since the 2024 reform, ITS is calculated on taxable gross pay, with no deduction of the employee pension.

Key takeaways

• Pension: 7.7% employer and 6.3% employee up to 3,375,000 FCFA.
• Family 5%, maternity 0.75%, work injury 2 to 5%, all employer-paid, up to 70,000 FCFA.
• CMU: 1,000 FCFA per person per month, half employer, half employee.
• Monthly or quarterly return on e-CNPS before the 15th, and DISA before 31 March.
• Correct CNPS contributions Ivory Coast are checked on two test cases: a modest salary and one above the ceiling.

Want to check contributions on your own payslips? Book a Socium demo with an Ivorian payroll expert.