The effective average retirement age in Spain exceeded 65 for the first time at the end of 2023, standing at 65.1 years, compared to 64.8 years in 2022 or 64.7 years in 2021, according to data provided by the Secretary of State for Social Security, Borja Suárez, on his social media.
By retirement types, the Social Security data reflect an effective average age of 63.2 years for early retirement, compared to 63 years in 2022 or 62.3 years in 2018. For regular-age retirements, the actual retirement age, in average values, was 66 years, the highest in the series. In 2022, it was 65.9 years and in 2018, 65.7 years.
For women, the effective retirement age averaged 65.5 years in 2023, up from 65.3 years in 2022. Women reached an effective retirement age of 65 as early as 2019 and have progressively raised it to 65.5 years in 2023.
For men, the average effective retirement age is lower. In 2023, the average effective retirement age was 64.7 years, up from 64.5 years in 2022, but still short of the average age of 65.
In the report on pension expenditure projections published by the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration to comply with the Recovery Plan, the government estimates that the average retirement age will rise by 1.6 years in 2050 to around 65.5 years as a result of the incentives included in the pension reform to encourage delayed retirement and the abolition of forced retirement clauses in collective bargaining agreements.
Delayed retirement soars by 50% in 2023
The total number of people taking early retirement last year was 326,949, lower than in 2022 (327,872 retirements) and lower than in 2018 (328,159).
Of the total number of people taking early retirement in 2023, Social Security recorded 112,032 early retirements, 8.3% less than in 2022 and 21.1% below the figure for 2018, when there were more than 142,000.
The remaining 214,822 registrations last year were for ordinary retirements, 4.5% more than in 2022. Of these, 221 were partial retirements without a relief contract, similar to 2022, and 26,487 were delayed retirements, 50% more than in 2022.
As a percentage of total retirements, delayed retirements almost doubled in 2023, reaching a maximum of 8.1%, compared to 5.4% in 2022, thanks to the new incentives for delayed retirements included in the pension reform.
More specifically, this reform included two types of incentives for those deciding to voluntarily delay their retirement beyond the legal age, consisting of an additional 4% percentage on the amount of the corresponding pension or a lump sum to be paid in a single payment. Initially, the two incentive schemes could not be combined, but from 18 May 2023, they can now be combined if desired.
For their part, early retirements accounted for a third of retirements last year (34.3%) when they exceeded 43%.
"The measures implemented and the substantial improvement in the labour market are helping to strengthen the public pension system," Suárez stressed on his social media.
