In January 2023, when pending requests totaled 1.23 million, the president said: “Rest assured that we will end the shameful INSS queue”; in August 2025, it reached 2.3 million
The INSS queue has more than doubled since the president (PT) promised to clear it. Upon assuming his 3rd term, on January 1, 2023, the president in the National Congress said: “Be assured that we will put an end, once again, to the shameful INSS queue, another injustice reestablished in these times of destruction.”
At that time, requests for pensions and pensions were 1.23 million. In August 2025, the latest data available on the Transparency Portal of the Ministry of Social Security, the number reached 2.3 million, an increase of 114%.
In one year, from August 2024 to August 2025, impoundments increased by 135%, from 1.12 million to 2.63 million. Lula’s peak was in March this year, when the number of pending applications reached 2.7 million.
The current scenario surpasses the government’s record of (PL), of 2 million in January 2020.
STRIKE AT INSS
In the 1st half of 2024, the queue fell by 12.4%, but grew again in July last year and hasn’t stopped since. During the period, there was a strike by INSS employees, which only ended on November 6, 2024. This strike had started on July 16, 2024 and lasted 114 days.
However, even without a strike, the INSS queue never moved as quickly as promised by the Lula government. On the contrary, the gross time for granting benefits, which had fallen from 69 days to 34 before the strike, increased again.
In March 2025, at Lula’s peak, the average gross time rose again, reaching 64 days in March 2025. After that, there was a drop, however, insufficient to meet the backlogged requirements. In August, the average gross concession time was 49 days.
