Spain takes first step to raise pensions from January 2027, minister cites 3% to 4%

Cabinet step ahead of elections

Spain's Council of Ministers on Friday, 13 November, approved the urgent processing of the royal decree that maintains the purchasing power of pensions, which the government calls the first step toward raising them in 2027. The step was taken at an extraordinary cabinet meeting held on a Friday, and the procedure itself repeats every year. Elma Saiz, government spokesperson and minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, announced the decision at the press conference after the meeting. Urgent processing shortens the deadlines for public participation and for mandatory reports before the decree can advance. A separate norm with the rank of law will later set the exact general increase and the amount of minimum pensions. The decision also falls on the first day of the official campaign for the general elections of 29 November.

“For this government it is a priority that pensioners maintain their purchasing power and that pensions keep evolving with the cost of living.”

How the rise is calculated

The increase is based on average year-on-year inflation over the twelve months from December 2025 to November 2026. The INE statistics institute will publish the November inflation flash estimate on 27 November, and the final figure follows on 15 December. Until that data is available the amount cannot be fixed, and the sources leave open whether the government will act on the flash figure or wait for the final one. Economists cited by La Vanguardia estimate an increase of around 3.5% from the inflation data already known. Saiz put the expected range at the press conference, and she described the step as an ordinary procedure carried out every year.

“Pensions will rise within a range between 3% and 4%.”

Pension record since 2018

Saiz presented a review of pension policy since 2018, citing guarantees of purchasing power in 2018, 2019 and 2020. She said a 2021 complement to reduce the gender gap in pensions had narrowed it by 2.4 percentage points since 2018. She also listed a 2022 overhaul of the contribution regime for self-employed workers, 2023 measures to strengthen system revenues, 2024 measures on combining work and pension, and a 2026 reform of flexible retirement. Over the last two legislatures the government signed four pension agreements with the unions CCOO and UGT and with the employer groups CEOE and Cepyme, she said. According to a ministry document, the average retirement pension rose from 1,090.70 euros in 2018 to 1,576.10 euros in September 2026, an increase of 44.5%. The government links that trend to the return of CPI-linked revaluation.

20181,090.7

September 20261,576.1

2018

1090.7 euros

September 2026

1576.1 euros

Data from the article text

What comes next

The next fixed date is the INE flash inflation figure on 27 November, which the articles note falls just two days before the vote. The final inflation figure is due on 15 December, and the law-rank norm will set the final amounts after the decree process moves forward. The timeline runs from the cabinet step on 13 November to the final INE figure on 15 December and to the start of revalued pensions on 1 January 2027. The sources do not say which of the two inflation figures the final amount will rest on.