Overseas Cost of Living Allowance Adjustments

December 2011 and January 2012

Effective in December 2011, 47 members stationed in Moscow, Russia will see an increase. In January 2012, roughly 1600 members stationed in Homer, Juneau, Kodiak, Unalaska, Alaska will see an increase in COLA while other locations will see no change. Increases in COLA will also be seen for the Barbados, Brazil, Cambodia, and Cape Verde. Members in Congo and Angola will see a decrease beginning in January 2012.

An increase indicates that price differences have increased from being that much more expensive in comparison to average prices in the Continental United Sates (CONUS). A decrease in this allowance indicates that the prices of goods and services have declined in comparison. Overseas COLA is not a fixed amount and adjustments based on data are either immediate or made incrementally, depending on whether the payment will increase or decrease. Increases in COLA are made immediately, whereas COLA reductions are phased in over time to help minimize the impact of the adjustment. Please refer to Table 1 for the COLA index point adjustment by duty station location.

Table 1: COLA Adjustments – December 2011 and January 2012

*All indexes are subject to change subject to currency fluctuations

Service members can calculate their COLA rate at http://www.defensetravel.dod.mil/site/colaCalc.cfm . The calculation tool is updated with the current COLA amounts each pay-period.

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