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Spanish pensions are worth more relative to salaries than they were a decade ago
Murcia retirees receive an average of €1,420 a month, and the gap between working income and pension has narrowed significantly in recent years
If you're retired in the Region of Murcia, the average monthly pension is €1,420, which represents around 70.74% of the average regional salary. That's a better ratio than the national average of 65.25%, and it tells a story about how retirement income in Spain has shifted over the past decade in ways that directly affect anyone living here.Nationally, the average pension stands at €1,568.46 per month against an average salary of €2,403.80. Ten years ago, the gap between the two was considerably wider. Since 2016, pensions have risen by 51.2% while salaries have grown by 31.2%, a divergence that has closed the coverage rate by almost ten percentage points.
For much of that earlier period, pensions were effectively frozen under a revaluation index that applied annual increases of just 0.25%. The switch to linking pensions to inflation has since pushed them up by close to 5% annually in recent years, representing a significant shift in the real value of retirement income.
The system has also been boosted by a generational change, with better-paid workers from previous decades now entering retirement and drawing higher pensions than those they replaced.
For Murcia residents trying to plan ahead, the calculation behind the pension figure is worth understanding. It's based on average contribution levels over the last 25 years of work, though a recent change gives people the option of using a 29-year window and discarding their two worst years, which can make a meaningful difference for anyone who had a difficult period mid-career.
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The maximum pension in Spain currently stands at €3,359.60 per month, up from €2,567.28 a decade ago.
Where you live affects the picture significantly. Asturias has the highest coverage rate in the country at 86.76%, largely because local salaries are relatively modest, while Madrid sits at just 59.08%, not because Madrid pensions are low, they average €1,791.95 per month and are among the highest in Spain, but because the capital's average salary of €3,033.15 is the highest in the country. The Basque Country tops the pension league table outright at €1,902.85 per month. Extremadura and Galicia record the lowest.
For British expats in Murcia navigating entitlements from two countries, the direction of travel for Spanish pensions is at least a broadly positive one.
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