Pensions could rise by around 3.2% in 2027 if inflation maintains its current level.

The annual increase of contributory pensions is supported on two levels: a permanent legal framework (mainly Article 58 of the General Social Security Law, amended by the Law 21/2021 and by the Royal Decree-Law 2/2023) that sets the formula linked to the CPI, and an annual decision that is practically articulated through the General State Budget Law (PGE) and a governmental royal decree of revaluation.

1. Legal framework of revaluation

Law 21/2021 modified the General Social Security Law to "recover the guarantee of purchasing power" of pensions through a new Article 58. According to the statement of reasons, it establishes that:

• The revaluation of pensions at the beginning of each year is carried out "in accordance with the average inflation recorded in the previous year".
• If inflation were negative, pensions are not reduced.
• Every five years the Government evaluates the effects of that revaluation and sends the evaluation to the Toledo Pact.

Subsequently, Royal Decree-Law 2/2023 again modifies the consolidated text of the General Social Security Law, but maintains the logic of anchoring other variables (for example, the cap on maximum bases) to the percentage of revaluation of contributory pensions provided for in Article 58.2.

That is, Parliament does not decide each year “by hand” the percentage, but has approved an automatic legal formula linked to the CPI, and politically controls the Government through the Budgets and the validation of possible royal decree-laws.

2. Ordinary route: General State Budget Law

It is usual for the Government to include the revaluation of pensions in the draft PGE Law, which is an ordinary law with a specific procedure, but which essentially follows the general phases of a bill:

• Preparation and approval in the Council of Ministers. The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Inclusion/Social Security propose the revaluation percentage according to the formula of Article 58. The Council of Ministers approves the draft PGE and sends it to the Congress.
• Qualification by the Board and admission for processing. The Board of the Congress admits the draft, it is published and a period for amendments is opened.
• General debate in Plenary. Groups may submit total amendments. If they are rejected and a return amendment succeeds, the draft would fall; if overcome, the processing continues.
• Committee and Budget Commission. In committee, the text is negotiated and partial amendments are incorporated or rejected, including any variation on the wording of the revaluation. The Commission approves a report.
• Congress Plenary. The Plenary debates and votes on the report and the amendments still alive. The revaluation is approved by simple majority: more votes in favor than against.
• Sending to the Senate. The Senate may approve the text, amend it or veto it. The veto or amendments are voted by simple majority in the Senate.
• Congress response. If there is a veto, the Congress may override it by absolute majority or, after two months, by simple majority. If there are amendments, it accepts or rejects them by simple majority.
• Sanction, promulgation and BOE. Once the final text is approved, it is sent to the King for sanction and promulgation, and published in the BOE (for example, the Law 31/2022 of PGE 2023).

Once the PGE Law is in force, the Government approves an annual revaluation royal decree (such as RD 1058/2022), which applies the formula and sets the specific amounts. This royal decree no longer passes through Parliament, but is limited to executing a legal and budgetary mandate approved by the Cortes.

3. Exceptional routes: specific law or royal decree-law

In extraordinary situations, the update of pensions has been articulated through:

• Specific law processed as a bill or private member's bill, following the same general procedure described for ordinary laws (government preparation if applicable, Board, amendments, committee, Congress Plenary, Senate, return to Congress, sanction and BOE), always with simple majority.
• Royal decree-law of revaluation or urgent measures on pensions (for example, RDL 28/2018 or RDL 1/2020), approved by the Council of Ministers and immediately published in the BOE. The Congress must validate it within a maximum period of 30 days, in a general debate, by simple majority. In that same session it may agree to process it as a bill, thus opening the complete procedure with amendments.

In summary, the key parliamentary procedure occurs, above all, when setting the legal framework (reforms of the General Social Security Law) and when approving the Budget Law each year. Once that framework is approved by Congress and Senate, the concrete application of the annual increase is carried out by the Government through a royal decree that develops what the Cortes have decided.

The Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migrations is the Government department responsible for designing and executing public pension policy and, in particular, for proposing and applying each year the update of pensions in the Social Security and Civil Service schemes. Its powers are exercised within the legal framework set by the law guaranteeing the purchasing power of pensions, which links the annual revaluation to the average CPI.

Legal framework for pension updates

According to official notes from the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migrations itself, the annual revaluation of pensions is governed by the Law guaranteeing the purchasing power of pensions, approved in 2021 following an agreement with social interlocutors and in compliance with Recommendation 2 of the Toledo Pact on maintaining purchasing power and improving pensions.

That law establishes, as a general rule, that:

• Contributory pensions of the Social Security system and those of the Civil Service Regime are revalued each year according to the interannual average CPI calculated between December of the previous year and November of the current year (for example, average CPI between December 2024 and November 2025 for the 2026 increase). See the note “More than 10.4 million contributory pensions will be revalued by 2.7% in 2026” (Moncloa note).
• On that basis, the Government approves the specific increase (for example, 2.7% in 2026 or 2.8% in 2025) and may set higher increases for minimum, non-contributory pensions or other benefits, following equity and poverty reduction objectives.

Ministry's powers in revaluation

Within that legal framework, the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migrations assumes, in summary, three major blocks of powers in pension updates:

• Technical calculation of revaluation: based on the definitive CPI data, the Ministry determines the percentage increase to be applied according to the legal formula. This is explained when it announces that “the formula used to calculate the revaluation for the next year is that established by Law 21/2021,” which guarantees the purchasing power of pensioners (same note).
• Normative promotion: the department drafts and submits to the Council of Ministers the normative projects that specify each year's increase:
  • Through a Royal Decree-Law when, as has happened for 2026, there are no new General State Budgets and a specific instrument is necessary to guarantee revaluation and other Social Security measures. The Ministry itself emphasizes that, in that context, “the only way to guarantee its update is the approval of a royal decree-law” (Demócrata, BOE revaluation 2026).
  • Through royal decrees or other provisions that develop specific amounts, maximum limits and contribution parameters linked to the increase.
• Management and execution: once the norm is approved by the Government and, if applicable, validated by Congress, the Ministry directs the practical application of the revaluation:
  • Orders Social Security to apply the new percentage to all contributory pensions, Civil Service pensions and other affected benefits, from January 1 of each year (for example, “the pension increase is effective from January 1, 2026,” in the note “Increase and revaluation of pensions 2026”: note of 01/08/2026).
  • Defines and implements additional increases for minimum pensions, non-contributory pensions and Minimum Vital Income, which in 2026 rise above the CPI (more than 7% or even 11.4%, according to the same source).
  • Communicates individually to pensioners the update of their pension, sending each year an informative letter detailing the applied revaluation.

Role of the State Secretariat for Social Security and Pensions

Within the Ministry, the State Secretariat for Social Security and Pensions is the management body that assumes the ordinary management of the system and the technical preparation of these decisions:

• Leads the work of calculation, projection and evaluation of the effects of each revaluation on pension expenditure and the financial sustainability of the system.
• Coordinates with the General Treasury of Social Security and the National Social Security Institute the operational implementation of the increase in monthly payrolls and extra payments.
• Prepares and technically negotiates, together with the minister's office, the draft royal decree-laws and regulatory provisions submitted to the Council of Ministers and subsequently to Congress for validation, such as the Royal Decree-Law on pension revaluation validated on February 26, 2026 (note of 02/26/2026).

Overall, it can be said that the Ministry sets the policy and promotes the norms that update pensions, while the State Secretariat is the “technical engine” that translates the legal mandate (linkage to the CPI and reinforced protection of the lowest pensions) into concrete decisions of calculation, normative processing and monthly payroll management.

With the information found in recent official sources, it can be stated with certainty that, within the period 2014‑2024, at least in three years specific additional increases have been applied to minimum and/or non-contributory pensions, higher than the general revaluation linked to the CPI: 2022, 2023 and 2024. It is very possible that in previous years there were other selective improvements, but they do not appear in the identified documents, so they could not be quantified rigorously.

These additional increases are concentrated in the most recent phase of the decade, coinciding with pension system reforms and responses to the inflationary and energy crisis. The data not only speak of revaluation according to the CPI, but of higher percentages and extraordinary increases for the lowest pensions, including non-contributory pensions and the Minimum Vital Income (IMV).

1. 2022: extraordinary 15% increase for non-contributory and IMV

The 2023 budget information from the Ministry of Finance, analyzing the previous year, indicates that among the measures adopted in Social Security are:

• A general revaluation of pensions of 8.5% for 2023, linked to price evolution.
• A 15% increase for non-contributory pensions, clearly higher than that general increase.

Additionally, a note from Inclusion, Social Security and Migrations on the 2023 budget execution indicates that spending on non-contributory pensions and benefits grows because “the extraordinary 15% increase in non-contributory retirement and disability pensions and in the Minimum Vital Income that has been applied since July 2022 is maintained” (Inclusion note 03/27/2024).

From this it follows that in 2022 this extraordinary 15% was introduced for the first time on non-contributory pensions and IMV, apart from the ordinary revaluation, through emergency regulations (royal decree-laws responding to the crisis) later maintained in 2023.

2. 2023: maintenance of the extraordinary 15% in non-contributory pensions

For 2023, the same Ministry of Finance documentation on Public Administration deficit emphasizes that among the budgetary measures adopted are:

• General revaluation of pensions by 8.5%.
• Specific 15% increase for non-contributory pensions, which consolidates the extraordinary base established in 2022 (Finance note 01/31/2024).

That is, in 2023 non-contributory pensions again grow above the general increase, maintaining the 15% differential compared to the 8.5% of the rest of the system. Again, it is an additional improvement concentrated on the lowest benefits, not a mere CPI update.

3. 2024: reinforced 6.9% increase for non-contributory and minimum pensions

For 2024, the Government establishes a two-speed pattern between contributory and non-contributory pensions:

• Contributory pensions are revalued by 3.8%, in line with the update formula linked to the average CPI, after the 2021 reform (Inclusion note 02/27/2024).
• Non-contributory retirement and disability pensions rise by 6.9%, almost double the general increase.
• The Government itself explains that this 6.9% is adopted “to reduce the existing gap between the amount of minimum pensions and the poverty threshold”.

The same note states the annual amount of non-contributory pensions as 7,250.60 euros annually (517.90 euros monthly in 14 payments) and recalls that the more intense increase is concentrated precisely in the lowest benefits. Additionally, another royal decree-law from January 2024, validated by Congress, again specifies that minimum pensions, non-contributory pensions and the IMV increase by 6.9% (Presidency note 01/11/2024).

Therefore, 2024 constitutes a third consecutive year with an additional increase for non-contributory and, de facto, minimum pensions, clearly higher than the ordinary CPI revaluation applied to the rest of contributory pensions.

4. Scope of the response

In summary, based on the consulted sources, it can be answered that:

• In the decade 2014‑2024 there is documentary evidence of three years with additional increases for minimum or non-contributory pensions, apart from the CPI: 2012‑2022 (introduction of the extraordinary 15%), 2023 (maintenance of the 15%) and 2024 (6.9% increase versus 3.8% general).
• No clear references to increases of this type have been identified in the analyzed documents between 2014 and 2021; this does not imply they did not exist, but would prevent giving a higher figure without speculation.

From a public policy point of view, what is relevant is that, at least since 2022, non-contributory pensions and minimum amounts have been subject to reinforced and differentiated protection compared to the rest of the system, through extraordinary or differential increases that expand their purchasing power beyond mere inflation compensation.