Spain's monthly pension expenditure reaches 14.47 billion euros in August 2026

Monthly spending and general revaluation

Spain's monthly contributory pension payroll reached 14,470.4 million euros in August 2026, rising 6.2% compared to the same month in 2024. The Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration reported that the state disbursed 10,535,869 pensions to more than 9.5 million individuals, representing a 1.5% increase in total beneficiaries. The August payroll incorporates the 2.7% general pension revaluation approved by the government for 2026, pegged to the average consumer price index between December 2024 and November 2025. The overall average pension across all categories reached 1,373.44 euros per month, an increase of 4.6% year-on-year.

Pension categories and regime disparities

Retirement pensions represented the vast majority of total expenditure, absorbing 10,626 million euros in August, up 6.7% from August 2025. Widowhood benefits received 2,288.6 million euros across more than 2.3 million pensions, reflecting a 4.1% interannual growth, while permanent disability allocations increased 6.3% to 1,331.4 million euros for 1.06 million pensions. Orphanhood benefits accounted for 185.7 million euros across 336,336 payments, and allocations for family members totaled 38.7 million euros across 46,928 pensions. The average monthly retirement pension climbed 4.5% to 1,574.9 euros across 6.74 million pensions paid to 6.5 million retirees, while average widowhood pensions rose 4.3% to 976 euros.

Pronounced differences persist across employment regimes within the retirement system. Monthly retirement pensions under the Coal Mining regime averaged 3,004.9 euros, followed by the Sea Regime at 1,739.9 euros and the General Regime at 1,733.7 euros. By contrast, pensioners registered under the Special Regime for Self-Employed Workers received an average monthly payment of 1,062.1 euros. New retirement entries into the social security system in July registered an even higher average payout of 1,707.2 euros per month.

Delayed retirements and labor market exits

Social security data revealed that the average effective retirement age in Spain reached 65.4 years, an increase from 64.4 years recorded in 2019. This change reflects a one-year postponement in labor market exits over a seven-year period. Among the 218,325 new retirements registered through August 2026, delayed retirements accounted for 11.8% of the total, which is seven percentage points higher than in 2019. The increase in delayed retirement follows the reinforcement of statutory incentives introduced in 2022 alongside revisions to early retirement rules.

Regional variations across autonomous communities

Regional pension distribution showed marked geographic disparities in both beneficiary volume and average monthly compensation. Catalonia registered the highest total volume of benefits with 1.83 million pensions (17.3% of the national total) and an average payout of 1,426 euros, ahead of Andalusia with 1.74 million pensions and Madrid with 1.30 million. The Basque Country recorded the highest average pension in Spain at 1,684.28 euros across 592,012 benefits, followed by Madrid at 1,583.98 euros, Asturias at approximately 1,580 euros, and Castilla y León at 1,376.28 euros. At the lower end of the compensation scale, the Canary Islands recorded 383,630 pensions averaging 1,253.79 euros, while Extremadura recorded 249,697 pensions with an average monthly payout of 1,173.79 euros.