- With this increase the average retirement pension in the Basque Country will be 1,676.68 euros per month (the highest in Spain) for the 378,811 Basque retirees
- The revaluation means 1,839 euros of increase per year for each retirement pension in the autonomous community. In other words, it’s like receiving a little more than an extra monthly payment, or fifteen payments a year and it will cost the State almost 700 million euros
- All contributory pensions (retirement, permanent disability, widowhood, orphanhood and family benefits) remain at 1,474.44 euros on average per month for the Basque Country compared to 1,189.12 in the rest of Spain
- Non-contributory retirement and disability pensions and Minimum Living Income benefit increase by 15%
- Denis Itxaso: “Revaluation and the guarantee of purchasing power is part of the right to a public pension. And an expression of the solidarity of society with those who have contributed”
Basque retirement pensions will increase by an average of
€131.36 per month this year following the approval by the Council of Ministers on 27 December of an overall revaluation of the 8.5% pensions and other benefits paid by the Social Security system. In the case of the Basque Country, the average retirement pension will remain at 1,676.68 euros per month from the January payroll (1,545.41 euros in 2022), which means the highest retirement pension paid in Spain (whose average stays at 1,368 euros per month), said the government delegate in the Basque Country, Denis Itxaso, during the presentation of these data. “Revaluation and the guarantee of purchasing power is part of the right to a public pension. And an expression of the solidarity of society with those who have contributed,” he stressed. Since mid-January, pensioners have been receiving letters from the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration informing them of the revaluation of their pension amount this year.
“This revaluation means in the case of the Basque Country 1,839 euros of increase per year for each retirement pension. In other words, retired pensioners are going to receive a little more than one extra monthly payment, or fifteen payments a year. This item will cost the State almost 700 million euros.”
At the end of December, 377,478 retirement pensions were in force in the Basque Country, which means a payroll of 582,758,936 million euros each month.
By territory, the average retirement pension in Álava will remain at 1,692.90 euros (a revaluation of 132.62 euros); in Gipuzkoa it will be 1,621.91 euros (127.07 euros of increase per month) and in Bizkaia the highest will be charged: 1,709.95 euros (133.96 euros of monthly increase compared to 2022). Since 2018, the average retirement pension in the Basque Country has grown from 1,368.11 euros to 1,676.77 euros in 2023.
Maintaining the purchasing power of pensions is compatible with strengthening the accounts of the Public Pension System, says Itxaso. “The government has adopted measures to protect and improve the quality of employment, such as labour reform, which are improving the system’s income and moving towards budgetary balance. More measures have also been taken, such as the assumption by the Budget of expenses that are not to be financed by Social Security.”
Rest of pensions
In addition to retirement pensions (which are in the majority), contributory pensions also include permanent disability pensions (39,990), widowhood pensions (134,556), orphanhood pensions (15,711) and family pensions (2,253). Together, they add 571,321 in the Basque Country (data as of January 1). Like retirement pensions, the rest of pensions will also grow by 8.5% in their monthly amount. Thus, the pensions paid for permanent disability will rise by 112 euros to reach 1,435 euros; those for widowhood, 80 euros to 1,031; those for orphanhood, will increase by 45 euros to 574.75 euros and those for relatives, 68 euros to reach 872 euros per month in 2023. In this way, all the contributory pensions remain at 1,474.44 euros per month on average for the Basque Country. On the other hand, the non-contributory retirement and disability pensions and the recipients of the Minimum Vital Income (which in the case of the Basque Country reach 47,402 people) maintain the extraordinary increase of 15%.