Funcas chooses the increase in pension spending in 2023 (15.8 billion) as ‘The data of the year’ for being the largest in history
MADRID, 27 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Savings Bank Foundation (Funcas) estimates that in 2024 spending on pensions could increase by another 10 billion euros, bringing the annual spending on this type of benefits to a total of 180 billion euros.
Funcas recalls that the revaluation of pensions in 2024 in accordance with the inflation rate will be 3.8%, which will mean an increase in spending for this concept of about 6,500 million, which will be added to the increase derived from the substitution effect and the increase of the number of pensioners. In this way, total spending could increase by around 10 billion, up to 180 billion euros.
By way of comparison, Funcas points out that the joint spending of public administrations on health and education amounted, in 2021 – the last year for which data is available – to 144,000 million euros.
The Foundation has chosen the increase in pension spending in 2023 as ‘The data of the year’ because it is the largest annual increase in history, which triples the growth rate recorded over the last 15 years.
Specifically, spending on pensions, contributory and non-contributory, has reached 170.8 billion euros in 2023, which is 15.8 billion more than in 2022.
“This growth has been the result, fundamentally, of the revaluation of benefits by 8.4%, in accordance with the inflation rate of the previous year,” Funcas senior economist María Jesús Fernández explained in a statement. .
Added to this are the usual factors that drive spending up every year: the substitution effect – the pension of new recipients who enter the system is greater than that of those who leave – and the growth in the number of pensioners.
Thus, the average pension stands at 1,197 euros, compared to 1,094 a year ago. In particular, the average retirement pension reaches 1,377 euros, 117 euros more.
Regarding the number of pensioners, as of November 2023 it amounted to 9,145,589, which represents an increase of 109,000 compared to a year before. The number of pensions, for its part, exceeds the barrier of 10,000,000.
