Statistics on Contributory Pensions. Contributory Social Security Pensions and Pensioners. 2022

In 2022 in Catalonia there were 1,537,562 pensioners receiving contributory Social Security pensions, a figure which represents an increase of 1.3% over the previous year and is equivalent to 19.5% of the population.

The number of pensioners went up compared to the previous year in all counties except La Terra Alta (–0.6%) and La Ribera d'Ebre (–0.1%). The highest increases were in Aran (4.4%) and in the counties of La Selva (2.7%) and El Vallès Oriental (2.5%).

By municipalities with 20,000 or more inhabitants, the number of pensioners rose in all of them with respect to 2021 except in Barcelona, which recorded a 0.1% decrease. The municipalities of Salou, Sant Quirze del Vallès and Lloret de Mar (4.9%, 4.4% and 4.4%, respectively) had the highest percentage increase in the number of pensioners.

The counties with the highest proportion of contributory pensioners out of the total population were El Berguedà (27.9%), El Ripollès (27.3%) and La Terra Alta (27.4%), while those with the lowest proportion were La Cerdanya (14.3%), L'Alt Empordà (15.7%) and Aran (14.8%). In municipalities with 20,000 inhabitants or more, Esplugues de Llobregat (23.5%), Manresa (22.3%) and Igualada (22.1%) had the highest percentages of pensioners while the municipalities with the lowest percentages were Salou, Sant Cugat del Vallès and Salt (12.7%, 13.3% and 13.4%, respectively).

The average amount received by pensioners rose by 14.4% compared to 2021 to stand at 1,419 euros. El Barcelonès was still the county where the average gross amount received by Social Security contributory pensioners on 31 December 2022 was the highest in Catalonia at 1,530 euros, followed by El Tarragonès (1,463 euros) and El Baix Llobregat (1,456 euros). By contrast, residents in La Terra Alta received the lowest amount (1,024 euros) followed by those in Les Garrigues (1,071 euros).

In municipalities with 20,000 or more inhabitants, Sant Cugat del Vallès was the municipality where contributory pensioners received the highest average amount at 1,727 euros per month, followed by Sant Quirze del Vallès (1,695 euros) and Barcelona (1,586 euros), while Lloret de Mar (1,145 euros), Amposta (1,163 euros) and Palafrugell (1,196 euros) were the municipalities where this amount was the lowest.

By sex, 51.7% of pensioners in 2022 were women and 48.3% were men. There was a gender difference of 406 euros in the average pension received since it was 1,223 euros for women and 1,629 euros for men.

As for the gross amount received by pensioners in Catalonia in December 2022, 40.0% of contributory pensioners received no more than 1,000 euros, 38.2% received between 1,001 and 2,000 euros and 21.8% received over 2,000 euros per month on average.

By contribution regimes, the average pension under the general regime for Catalonia was 1,336 euros while the average pension under the special regime for self-employed workers (RETA) was 857 euros. The two counties with the lowest average pensions considering all regimes also had the highest share of RETA pensions: La Terra Alta at 57.7% and Les Garrigues at 48.5% (higher than the 18.5% for Catalonia as a whole).