Pension increases next year should be below 3%, given inflation and economic growth in the first half of this year. For now, the only certainty in this area, overseen by the Ministry of Social Affairs, is that the legal retirement age in 2025 will be set at 66 years and seven months.
The exact amount of the pension increase can only be calculated after the National Statistics Institute (INE) publishes in November the inflation rate excluding housing, as well as taking into account the gross domestic product (GDP). This indicator only takes into account the growth of the last two years, which will be between 2% and 3%, Expresso reported on Friday.
These rules came into force in 2007 following the publication of Law 53-B/2006, which established the standards for updating social security pensions.
If Expresso’s calculations are correct, pension updates will be lower than in the last two years. Let us recall that pensions increased by 5-6% this year, and by 3.89-4.83% in 2023. In general, pensions above 6111.12 euros have not been updated. Without increases, unless the law changes, those who started this year will receive pensions.
Under the law, which is being challenged by the Movement for Justice for Pensioners and Retirees, new beneficiaries must wait two years to renew their pensions. The problem has become even more acute in recent years due to high inflation rates, exacerbating the loss of purchasing power among pensioners.
According to the Social Security Service, the number of old-age pensions awarded in 2023 increased by 19.2% compared to the previous year to 102,435, while the average cost of new pensions increased by 3.4% to 687.41 euros.
The data also shows that workers retired earlier on average in 2023 than in 2022, as the average age of new retirees last year was 65.1 years old (up from 65.2 years old).
Half a million in progress
Last year, training activities reached 500.8 thousand people, of whom 330.5 thousand were covered by continuous training activities (66%) and 63.4 thousand (12.7%) by initial training, according to the Institute of Employment and Vocational Training (IEFP), in a report published on Friday by the institution.
More companies
According to the report, about 285,000 companies responded about their personnel tables, which is about 13,000 more companies than the previous year.
Ascent
Information released by the Institute for Employment and Skills shows that unemployment has risen across all age groups except those aged 25 to 34 between 2022 and 2023.
