Pension spending grew by 10.8% in December to a record figure of 12,120.8 million euros. However, the weight of benefits paid throughout 2022 with respect to GDP was reduced by two tenths in relation to 2022. The annual bill represents 11.5% of GDP.

The ordinary monthly pension payroll exceeded 12,000 million euros for the first time in July and this month it once again sets a new record. This is due to the fact that, in application of the pension reform, these have increased by 8.5% by 2023 as a result of the average inflation of the period December 2021-November 2022.

The Department led by Elma Saiz estimates that pension spending stood at 11.7% of GDP in 2022, while in 2021 and 2020 it exceeded 12%.

Of the total pensioners (9.2 million as of December 1 of this year), 4.6 million are men and 4.5 million are women. The number of pensions per pensioner is 1.1.

After the increase in pensions with the CPI applied since the beginning of the year, the average retirement pension increased by 9.4% year-on-year in December, to 1,378.4 euros per month.

In the General Regime, the average retirement pension amounted to 1,533.9 euros per month, compared to 918.2 euros per month in the Self-Employed Regime. In Coal Mining, the average retirement pension is 2,688.9 euros per month and in Sea Mining, 1,528.4 euros.

The average amount of new retirement registrations in the system amounted to 1,398 euros per month in November of this year (latest data available).

In December, the average widow’s pension stood at 854.7 euros per month, with an interannual growth of 9.3%, while the average pension of the system, which includes the different types of pension (retirement, permanent disability, widowhood , orphanhood and in favor of relatives), increased by 9.5% year-on-year, reaching 1,198.7 euros per month as of December 1 of this year.