Pension spending rises by 6.22% in February and reaches 13.455 billion euros

Pension spending is on the rise again in February after the Congress of Deputies approved the revaluation at the end of January, which increases the payroll by 2.8% in general and between 6% and 9% for minimum pensions. The revaluation, being retroactive, also affected the January payroll. Specifically, Social Security increased pension spending to 13.455 billion euros in the second month of the year, 6.22% more than last year.

The Elma Saiz Department has paid 10,293,631 pensions to more than 9.3 million people in the February payroll, with a 1.6% increase in the number of pensioners.

The average pension in the system stands at 1,307.2 euros this month, 4.5% more than in the same month last year. This average includes the amount of the different types of pension (retirement, permanent disability, widowhood, orphanhood and in favour of family members). The average retirement pension , which is received by more than two thirds of all pensioners (6.6 million people), stands at 1,500.7 euros per month.

As for the division by regimes, the pension under the General Regime - employees - was 1,661.1 euros per month, while under the Special Regime for Self-Employed Workers it reaches 1,006.2 euros per month.

In the coal mining industry, the average pension is 2,894.8 euros, and in the maritime sector, 1,658.2 euros. The average widow's pension was 932.4 euros per month in February.

Furthermore, as usual, three quarters of the monthly payroll of contributory pensions corresponds to retirement pensions. Specifically, these pensions account for 73.2% of the payroll, 9,848.4 million euros.

Widow's pensions amounted to 2,186.2 million euros, while the payroll for permanent disability benefits amounts to 1,208 million euros, orphan's pensions to 177.2 million euros and benefits for family members to 35.9 million euros.

On the other hand, in January 38,234 new pensions were registered and the average pension in the system rose to 1,754.24. Most of the new registrations belong to the general system, with 31,339 new pensioners who received an average of 1,878.68 euros, 6.69% more than last year.

In December 2024, 368,065 new registrations for retirement pensions were recorded. "From the analysis of the data, it is clear that the number of early retirements has been considerably reduced and is below 30% of the total (29.6%). There are 108,968, which represents a decrease of 10.4% of early retirements compared to 2019 when 40% of new retirements were early. 70.4% accessed at ordinary age (259,019)," explains the Social Security in the press release.

"In this same period, 9.3% of new entrants were in the delayed retirement category, compared to 4.8% in 2019. There are a total of 34,273 new entrants of this type, while in 2019 there were barely more than 14,000. As a result of the increase in people who voluntarily delay their retirement and the decrease in early retirement, the average age for accessing retirement is 65.2 years, when in 2019 it was 64.4," he stresses. In 2022, new incentives for delaying access to retirement came into force.