Every time the monthly pension statistics are published, the same data appears in headlines: the average retirement pension in Spain is already at 1,568.5 euros. It is a useful figure, yes, but also misleading if taken as a faithful portrait of what a specific retiree earns. Because the reality is much more unequal.
Behind that average, very different worlds coexist. A retiree from the General Regime does not earn the same as a self-employed person. Nor does the average amount of the Sea Regime resemble that of other sectors. And there are specific regimes, such as Coal Mining, where the figures skyrocket compared to the system as a whole.
The General Regime clearly exceeds the average
The average retirement pension from the General Regime reaches 1,728.7 euros per month. That is, it is clearly above the system average and confirms something that has been seen for years: those who have developed their professional career as employees within the common regime reach retirement with contribution bases, in general, higher than other groups.
That data is especially relevant because the General Regime concentrates a very important part of employment and functions almost as the great reference of the system. If compared with the global average retirement age, the distance is notable.
The self-employed remain at a great distance
At the opposite extreme appear self-employed workers. The average retirement pension for the self-employed stands at 1,057.6 euros per month. The gap with the General Regime clearly exceeds 600 euros per month.
It is not a surprise, but it is a forceful photograph of a historical inequality. For decades, a large part of the self-employed contributed based on minimum or very low bases, and that pattern is still noticeable upon reaching retirement. The real income contribution reform aims to correct the problem for the future, but the stock of already recognized pensions continues to reflect the old model.
Coal Mining and the Sea, far above
Coal Mining continues to lead the ranking with an average retirement pension of 2,997.6 euros per month. The Sea Regime stands at 1,733.4 euros, also above the national average and very close to the General Regime.
It's not just about salaries, but also about the nature of these jobs, about their specific regimes and about the reducing coefficients associated with especially hard or dangerous activities. There lies the explanation of why these amounts do not follow the same pattern as other sectors.
What this gap says about the system
The big conclusion is quite stark: talking about “the average pension” serves to take a quick snapshot, but not to understand how retirement really works in Spain. There are clear winners and clear losers. And the biggest fracture is between those who have contributed for years to the General Regime and those who have done so as self-employed.
That, furthermore, has a powerful political reading. The pressure to improve the future pensions of the self-employed does not arise only from a sectoral demand, but from an objective fact: today the distance regarding the rest of the system continues to be very large.
The average of new highs pushes upwards
Even so, there is a factor that pushes the figures upwards in all regimes: new retirement registrations are being recognized with an average amount of 1,726.3 euros per month. That means that, as old pensions are replaced by new pensions, the system's average continues to increase.
But even with that renewal effect, the gap between regimes does not disappear. And that turns this statistic into a quite precise X-ray of how working life translates into the final pension.