The gender gap in the retirement pension falls to 21.1% in 2023: they receive 338 euros less per month

MADRID, 11 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The gender gap in pensions was reduced to 21.1% in 2023 from 21.7% in 2022, thanks mainly to the improvement of lower pensions, received largely by women, according to data from the Social Security consulted by Europa Press.

After the atypical year 2020 brought about by the Covid pandemic, in which the gender gap in pensions fell to 19.3%, subsequent years brought this indicator above 21%.

Specifically, the gender gap in the retirement pension stood at 21.08% in 2021, then rose to 21.73% in 2022 and dropped to 21.12% in 2023. This means that the average pension of In 2023, women's retirement represented 78.88% of that received by men.

Thus, while the average pension for women in the new retirement registrations registered in 2023 amounted to 1,263.4 euros on average per month, that of men was 1,601.77 euros. In this way, women earn 338 euros less per month on average than men.

The average amount of initial retirement benefits among women (1,263.4 euros per month) increased by 2.5% in 2023, while the average retirement pension for men rose at a slightly lower rate (1. 7%).

The total number of people who accessed retirement last year was 326,949, a figure lower than that of 2022 (327,872 retirements) and also that of 2018 (328,159).

43.9% of the retirement registrations produced in 2023, that is, 143,636, corresponded to women, in contrast to 56.1% of men (183,313 registrations).

This difference in the weight of women's retirements on the total compared to men's is due almost exclusively to early retirements.

These represented 67.4% of all retirement discharges caused by men, compared to 32.6% in the case of women. On the other hand, the relationship between both sexes is almost balanced in retirement discharges at ordinary age (49.8% in women and 50.2% in men).

Among those registered for retirement at the legal age, 26,487 were delayed retirements, 50% more than in 2022, thanks to the new incentives for delaying retirement included in the pension reform.

Of those 26,487 new delayed retirements in 2023, a total of 17,321 were caused by men and 9,166 by women, with increases of 66.2% and 26.7% over 2022, respectively.

The pension reform included two types of incentives for the voluntary delay of retirement beyond the legal age, consisting of an additional 4% percentage on the amount of the corresponding pension or a lump sum amount paid in one payment. only.

Initially, both types of incentives could not be combined, but since May 18, 2023, they can be combined at the interested party's choice.

In addition to earning less on average than men, Social Security data suggests that women withdraw from the labor market later than their male colleagues.

The average effective retirement age in Spain in 2023 exceeded 65 years for the first time at the end of the year, standing at 65.1 years, compared to 64.8 years in 2022 or 64.7 years in 2021.

In the case of women, the effective retirement age stood at an average of 65.5 years in 2023, above 65.3 years in 2022. Women already reached an actual retirement age of 65 in 2019. years and have been increasing it progressively until reaching 65.5 years in 2023.

For men, the average effective retirement age is lower than for women. In 2023, that of men was 64.7 years, above the 64.5 years of 2022, but without yet reaching that level of the average age of 65 that women present.