Asturias leads a ranking of pensions: where more retirees earn more than 3,000 euros gross

2023-12-18 05:15:00

Asturias was in November, the last month for which there is complete data, the autonomous community where a higher percentage of maximum pensions were collected (3,059.23 euros per month gross, before taxes) or even higher (for example, for those who delayed their retirement ). Of the 300,118 benefits that were paid in the region in that month, 10.3% (that is, a total of 30,912) amounted to at least the aforementioned amount. This is stated in the Social Security statistics.

The Principality has traditionally had the second highest average pensions in Spain (1,402.36 euros per month in November), only behind those of the Basque Country (1,484.28 euros). This is due to the historical weight of mining and industry in the economic fabric of the region, which guarantee higher pensions because contributions are also higher during active life.

However, in the case of last month, Asturias stood out as the community where the highest benefits were paid the most. Of course, closely followed by the Basque Country, with 9.8% of the total. In fact, at the provincial level Vizcaya was above, with 10.4%. Next, the region with the highest percentage was Madrid, with 8.5%.

In Asturias, half of the pensions (50.9%) had an amount between the minimum interprofessional salary (SMI, 1,080 euros per month) and the maximum. For its part, 38.8% of the payments were lower than the SMI.

If the distribution of maximum pensions by sex is analyzed, it is confirmed that a good part of them come from almost completely masculinized professions such as mining or heavy industry. Thus, of all male pensioners, 16.9% received the highest amounts, while in the case of women the quota was only 3.1%. In the range of amounts between the SMI and the maximum pension, the distribution was as follows: 56.6% for men and 44.7% for women. Therefore, more than half of the women (52.2%) received a pension lower than the SMI, while in the case of men it was 26.5%.

Pensions are at the same time one of the pillars of the Asturian economy and one of its greatest weaknesses. in a context of strong demographic aging. Almost 40% of the income that Asturians receive comes from the pension system.

The payrolls of retirees throughout Spain will grow by 3.8% in 2024 to adapt them to inflation, which means that the average pension in Asturias will increase by 53 euros per month, while the retirement pension will increase by 62.3 euros. The lowest pensions will have higher increases.

If the total payroll of the more than 300,000 pensions in the region is computed, next year it will amount to 6,113 million euros, a historical record that is equivalent to the Budget of the Principality.