The backlog of outstanding retirement claims at the Office of Personnel Management declined 4.4% in April.
OPM received 6,901 new retirement claims last month and processed 7,647 which brought the backlog down from 16,823 to 16,077.
With the annual “surge period” now over, the rate of both incoming retirement applications as well as the agency’s pace of processing both slowed over the previous months. The “surge period” is defined by OPM as the first quarter of the year (January – March) during which time the greatest numbers of federal employees retire.
In March 2024, OPM processed 10,711 retirement claims, 29% more than in April. The average monthly processing time also went up in April to 61 days to 55 in March.
However, the number of incoming retirement applications has declined steadily since January, so this isn’t a big surprise. The amount of new retirement applications that came in during January was 47% than in April. The good news for new or soon to be federal retirees is that the OPM retirement backlog has declined by 23% since the end of January.
| Month | Claims Received | Claims Processed | Inventory | Monthly Average Processing Time (Days) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 2024 | 12,997 | 6,467 | 20,822 | 66 |
| February 2024 | 8,794 | 10,025 | 19,591 | 47 |
| March 2024 | 7,943 | 10,711 | 16,823 | 55 |
| April 2024 | 6,901 | 7,647 | 16,077 | 61 |
As of April 2024, OPM estimates in its retirement Quick Guide that federal retirees will get their first full annuity payments within 3-5 months of retiring. That was also the same estimate given by OPM as of the end of March.
OPM Retirement Backlog: April 2020 – April 2024
The table below shows the statistics on the OPM retirement backlog during April for the last five years. It is at its lowest point by far at the end of April during that time and has been on a steady decline so far throughout 2024.
| Claims Received | Claims Processed | Inventory | |
|---|---|---|---|
| April 2020 | 6,740 | 8,115 | 19,889 |
| April 2021 | 9,414 | 11,396 | 25,386 |
| April 2022 | 9,983 | 11,393 | 34,939 |
| April 2023 | 8,298 | 10,839 | 20,384 |
| April 2024 | 6,901 | 7,647 | 16,077 |
| Average | 8,267 | 9,878 | 23,335 |
OPM Retirement Backlog Processing Status – April 2024
| Month | Claims Received | Claims Processed | Inventory (Steady state goal is 13,000) | Monthly Average Processing Time in Days | FYTD Average Processing Time in Days |
| January 2023 | 12,404 | 9,142 | 24,858 | 93 | 90 |
| February 2023 | 9,562 | 10,920 | 23,500 | 65 | 84 |
| March 2023 | 8,354 | 8,929 | 22,925 | 69 | 81 |
| April 2023 | 8,298 | 10,839 | 20,384 | 70 | 79 |
| May 2023 | 6,096 | 8,355 | 18,125 | 71 | 78 |
| June 2023 | 4,854 | 6,609 | 16,370 | 74 | 78 |
| July 2023 | 7,261 | 6,584 | 17,047 | 85 | 78 |
| August 2023 | 7,383 | 6,467 | 17,963 | 74 | 78 |
| September 2023 | 6,768 | 8,879 | 15,852 | 70 | 77 |
| October 2023 | 6,924 | 6,098 | 16,678 | 73 | 73 |
| November 2023 | 5,207 | 6,059 | 15,826 | 66 | 69 |
| December 2023 | 5,662 | 7,196 | 14,292 | 68 | 69 |
| January 2024 | 12,997 | 6,467 | 20,822 | 66 | 68 |
| February 2024 | 8,794 | 10,025 | 19,591 | 47 | 62 |
| March 2024 | 7,943 | 10,711 | 16,823 | 55 | 61 |
| April 2024 | 6,901 | 7,647 | 16,077 | 61 | 61 |
