The average Social Security pension in March rose to 1,251.5 euros per month, up 5 percent from a year earlier due to the early-year revaluation. This average covers the different types of pensions in the system, including retirement, permanent disability, widowhood, orphanhood, and pensions in favor of family members, according to figures published by the Ministry of Social Security.
In March, compared with March 2019, the year before the pandemic, the average pension increased by 27 percent. Following the pension reform that links payments to the consumer price index, the system’s average pension has grown by 21.4 percent from March 2021 to date, applying over the last three years.
The average amount received by contributors in March rose by 5 percent year over year, while state expenditure on this benefit reached a new record of 12,693.1 million euros, accounting for 11.5 percent of the gross domestic product for March.
9.2 million pensioners
Nearly three-quarters of the contributory pension payroll goes to retirement pensions, as has been typical. Specifically, these pensions account for 73.2 percent of the payroll, totaling 9,288 million euros. Widow’s pensions received 2,102.8 million euros, while the contributory disability pension payroll amounts to 1,097.6 million, orphanhood pensions total 170.9 million, and pensions in favor of family members amount to 33.8 million.
Of the 10.1 million contributory pensions paid, 6.5 million are retirement pensions, 2.4 million are widow’s pensions, and the remainder corresponds to permanent disability (945,077), orphanhood (341,283), and pensions in favor of family members (45,737). The number of pensions grows at an annual rate of 1.2 percent.
In March, the number of pensioners stood at 9.2 million. Of these, 4.6 million are men and 4.5 million are women. The per-pension rate remains at 1.1 benefits per person.
The retirement pension is the main benefit for 6.3 million people. Among them, 60 percent are men. For widow’s pensions, among the 1.5 million recipients who regard it as their primary benefit, 96 percent are women. There are 940,547 recipients of permanent disability, 323,449 of orphanhood, and 45,128 in favor of family members.
Widow’s pension reaches 894 euros per month
As noted, the system’s average pension in the third month of the year is 1,251.5 euros per month, up 5 percent.
The average retirement pension stands at 1,438.2 euros. By regime, the average retirement pension from the General Scheme is 1,598 euros per month, while the Autonomous Workers Regime records the lowest average at 960.4 euros. In the Coal Mining regime, the average retirement is 2,797.2 euros, and it is 1,592.3 euros in the Maritime regime. The average new retirement allowances in the most recent data (February 2024) rose to 1,562.7 euros per month.
In March, the average widow’s pension reached 894 euros per month.
Among new retirements in January and February (59,189), 61.7 percent were ordinary-age retirements (36,504), while 10.5 percent corresponded to deferred retirement, compared with 4.8 percent in 2019.
A 6.8 percent increase for the classes of retirees
Meanwhile, the monthly payroll for state pension classes increased to 1,571.9 million euros in February, the latest available figure. This represents an increase of 99.8 million euros from the previous year, or 6.8 percent.
The number of pensions in force was 707,822, 15,064 more than in the same month a year earlier (2.2 percent year-over-year change).
The State Civil Service Pension Scheme mainly covers military personnel and civil servants of the General State Administration, the Administration of Justice, the Cortes Generales, and other constitutional or state bodies, as well as officials transferred to regional authorities.