Pensions in Spain will go up to an average of 1,365 euros a month in January

The average retirement pension reached a record high of 1,257.90 euros this month in Spain, which is nearly 65 euros a month more than this time last year, and it is due to rise again in January. The government anticipates an increase of 8.5% due to the inflation rate, which means that many pensioners will receive an extra 100 euros a month.

This is likely to put a strain on Social Security finances as the administration will have to pay out over 190 billion euros in pensions in 2023.

The sums being paid out this year are already higher than in 2021, for example, the amount paid for contributory retirement pensions this month, October 2022, is 6.2% more than in the same month last year.

Social Security has just paid 7.89 billion euros in pension payments for October. These include 1.8 billion for people who have been widowed, 982 million for permanent incapacity, and 149.8 million for orphans’ benefits (paid to children whose parents have died and they qualify for support).

The statistics show that on October 1st this year, over 9 million people in Spain were eligible for some type of pension. Most of them (6.2 million) receive a retirement pension, and 1.6 million are widows or widowers.