Spending on public pensions reached a new all-time high in May, with 11,974 million euros, 10.8% more, according to Social Security data published this Friday. The average pension for the entire system stands at 1,195.08 euros, 9.7% higher than the previous year.
The department headed by José Luis Escrivá estimates that disbursement stood at 11.7% of GDP in the last twelve months, the same percentage as in 2022 and below 2021 (12.1% of GDP due to the drop in the economy after the pandemic).
Nearly three quarters of the payroll have gone into retirement. Specifically, 73%, about 8,723.1 million euros. 1,998.5 million euros have been allocated to widow's pensions, while 1,058.4 million have gone to permanent disability. Orphans and in favor of relatives add up to 194.2 million.
With the focus on benefits, the average retirement reaches 1,375.23 euros per month, climbing 9.6% in one year. In April, the new retirees from the general scheme who joined the system received an entry fee of 1,458.76 euros, below the 1,523 euros of the previous year.
For the rest of the pensions, the average permanent disability is 1,119.93 euros, widowhood is 851.71 euros, orphanhood is 478.63 euros and that which is in favor of relatives amounts to 701 euros.
The number of pensioners remains stable, at 9.07 million, 1% more than a year ago. They collect a total of 10.02 million pensions, so the average shows more than one pension per recipient.
By autonomies, the highest average pension, counting the entire system, is in the Basque Country, with 1,480.56 euros. On the opposite side, the lowest are for Extremadurans with 997.74 euros, the only ones that remain below 1,000 euros in all of Spain.
On the other hand, in May 495,859 pensions were supplemented due to the gender gap, with an average amount of 65.88 euros. The objective is to gradually correct the difference that occurs between the average pension received by a man and that received by a woman.
