BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s Cabinet on Wednesday approved a 4.57% rise in retirees’ pensions from this summer, well above the current rate of inflation.

Rises in German pensions are linked largely to wage developments. Although inflation has subsided over the past year, the outcome of recent salary negotiations in various sectors has reflected demands for hefty pay rises following a big increase in living costs.

The increase will take effect on July 1, the first time since 2000 that pensions in Europe’s biggest economy have risen by more than the annual inflation rate, which in March stood at 2.2%, German news agency dpa reported.

An increase last year of 4.39% in the former West Germany and 5.86% in the less prosperous and formerly communist east completed efforts to bring pension levels in the two parts of the once-divided country level more than 20 years after reunification.

Germany has a population of 84 million, including more than 21 million retirees.