The average pension in Spain is already 1,199 euros after an increase of 9.5% in year-on-year terms was recorded in December. The amount corresponds to the various contributory pensions, such as those for retirement, permanent disability, widowhood, orphanhood and in favor of relatives. If only retirement benefits are analyzed once the worker's working life ends, the average amount is 1,378 euros, 9.5% more. In Catalonia, the average retirement pension is 1,409 euros, 31 euros more than the Spanish one.
The growth in both cases is higher than the agreed increase for pensions of 8.5% for 2023 because the new retirees have higher benefits than the previous ones for having contributed more. With data from November, the amount of new retirement registrations in the system amounted to 1,398 euros each month, 2.8% more than a year ago.
In aggregate terms, expenditure on pensions in December grew by 10.8%, up to the historical figure of 12,120.8 million euros. It is normal that every month is a record, because pensions do not stop growing and the number of recipients also increases.
However, the weight of benefits paid throughout 2023 in terms of everything produced by the Spanish economy (GDP, gross domestic product) was reduced by two tenths compared to 2022. The annual bill represents 11.5 % of the aforementioned GDP. In 2022 the weight was 11.7%, while in 2021 and 2020 it exceeded 12%. Despite the slight decrease, the annual cost of the system in Spain remains above the EU average, which stands at 8.5% of GDP, or Germany, which exceeds 10%. Instead, it is below the level of Italy or France.
Of the total number of pensioners in Spain (9.2 million at 1 December this year), 4.6 million are men and 4.5 million are women.
In the case of retirement pensions, there are two main classes. Those in the general scheme have an average amount of 1,533.9 euros per month, compared to 918.2 euros each month in the self-employed scheme. In the case of Mineria del Coal, the average retirement pension is 2,688.9 euros each month, and in the case of the Sea, it reaches 1,528.4 euros.
By 2024, the contributory pensions enjoyed by more than 9 million people in Spain will rise by 3.8%. With this increase equivalent to the increase in the average CPI, the purchasing power of this group is guaranteed. The update derives from the new law which, from the end of 2021, establishes an automatic review mechanism based on the average of the interannual CPI in November of each financial year.
Just yesterday a survey was published in which it is stated that 51% of Spaniards acknowledge that they do not save for retirement, compared to 39% of Europeans, according to the III Pan-European Pension Survey 2023 by Insurance Europe, the federation European association of insurance companies of which the employer Unespa is a part.
