At the end of each year, all retirees and pensioners ask themselves the same question, which is how much my pension will increase. The rise is not fixed, but depends on a key indicator, which is the CPI. In this sense, the Social Security official, Alfonso Muñoz Cuenca, has explained how pensions will be updated and how much they are “expected” to rise next year 2026.
The public pension system has changed a lot and with the reform of Law 21/2021, it was established that contributory pensions are revalued each year based on the average annual Consumer Price Index (CPI), which is why that famous “pension payment” was stopped being collected. This system replaced the old sustainability factor and seeks to preserve the purchasing power of retirees. “Since the entry into force of Law 21/2021, pensions have been revalued based on the CPI in order to guarantee the purchasing power of pensioners,” recalls Muñoz Cuenca.
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What CPI applies to pension increases
The official explains that the calculation is not made on the December CPI, but on the average of the previous twelve months. “The law establishes that pensions will be revalued according to the average interannual CPI of the previous 12 months, that is, taking into account the average inflation recorded between the month of December 2024 and November 2025.”
Therefore, he clarifies that “it is still early to know the exact data” that will determine the final increase, since the final data will be known “at the end of November or the beginning of December.” Even so, an estimate can be made based on the real inflation data for the months already closed.
“Currently we do know how the real CPI has evolved in the previous months, that is, between December 2024 and September 2025,” says the official. Based on this information and adding a projection for the remaining two months, “most analysts, including BBVA or FUNCAS, point out that the increase in pensions for 2026 will be around 2.6%.”
How much money will the average increase mean?
Muñoz translates that 2.6% into concrete figures for pensioners. “Taking into account that the average pension in our country is around 1,311 euros per month, this means that pensions in 2026 will increase on average by about 34 euros per month.”
In the case of retirement pensions, which are above the general average, the increase will be somewhat greater. “The average retirement pensions will go from the current 1,506 euros per month to about 1,545 euros in 2026, that is, they will increase on average about 39 euros per month.”
In this table you can consult the values (they are indicative data applying 2.6%).
| Regime | Current average pension (€/month) | Average pension 2026 with 2.6% (€/month) | Increase (€/month) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total system | €1,313.97 | €1.34813 | €34.16 |
| General | €1,429.23 | €1.46639 | €37.16 |
| Self-employed workers | €910.45 | €934.12 | €23.67 |
| Sea workers | €1,344.42 | €1,379.37 | €34.95 |
| Coal mining | €2,300.37 | €2,360.18 | €59.81 |
| Work accidents | €1,329.39 | €1,363.95 | €34.56 |
| Occupational diseases | €1,566.75 | €1,607.49 | €40.74 |
| SOVI | €504.86 | €517.99 | €13.13 |
Not all pensions will rise the same
One of the keys that the official reveals is that not all pensions will increase equally, as he clarifies that, although the majority will be revalued according to the CPI, some will do so above. “And will all pensions be revalued by 2.6%? Well no, there are some pensions that will rise above the CPI,” he states in his video.
Firstly, it details the case of the lowest pensions. “For minimum and non-contributory pensions, the increase will once again be higher than inflation in order to bring it closer to the European objective of reducing poverty among the elderly,” he explains. This measure is included in the fifty-third additional provision of the General Social Security Law, which establishes a convergence path until 2027 so that these benefits reach a percentage of the poverty threshold.
Secondly, the initial maximum pensions will also increase above the CPI. According to the official, “this increase is due to the fact that the maximum contribution base also increases above the CPI, regardless of the extra solidarity fee that applies to the highest salaries.”
This double increase is regulated in the thirty-eighth and thirty-ninth transitional provisions of the law, which establish an annual increase for the maximum bases (IPC + 1.2%) and for the maximum initial pension (IPC + 0.115% cumulative) until the year 2050.
A system linked to the annual average CPI
It should be known that pensions began to be linked based on the year-on-year average CPI with the second pension reform, Law 21/2021, which modified article 58 of the General Social Security Law. Thus, this system replaced the pension revaluation index (IRP) implemented in 2013, which limited increases to 0.25% per year (hence, the pension payment will be collected at the end of January) in line with the recommendations of the Toledo Pact and the previous reforms included in Law 27/2011.
To finish the video, Alfonso clarifies about the increase in pensions that “this is only an estimate, since we will know the real data at the end of November.” At the end of November the provisional data is given, it is in mid-December when the final data will be known.