Updates on retirement for the year 2026

Calculation

On January 1, 2026, Royal Decree-Law 2/2023 of March 16, on urgent measures for the expansion of pensioners' rights, the reduction of the gender gap, and the establishment of a new framework for the sustainability of the public pension system came into force. One of its main modifications is the method of calculating the retirement pension and the standard retirement age to access it.

Specifically, with regard to the calculation method, until now, the retirement pension was calculated by computing the contribution bases of the 300 months (25 years) prior to the triggering event. According to the new calculation formula, now the 324 highest contribution bases of the period of 348 consecutive months immediately preceding the month before the triggering event will be taken into account.

The implementation of this system will be gradual, so each year more months will be considered, until reaching the maximum of 324 bases established in the year 2037, as detailed in the following table:

In particular, in the year 2026, the 302 highest contribution bases will be taken into account from the 304 months prior to retirement. This implies reviewing the contributions from the 25 years and 4 months before the event giving rise to entitlement.

Furthermore, a transitional regime is foreseen until the year 2040, whereby, depending on the retirement date, the most favorable regime between the one prior to 2026 and the one in force at any given time will be applied solely for the purpose of calculating the regulatory base. For example, if the event giving rise to entitlement occurs in 2026, the calculation that is most favorable between the regime in force in 2026 (302 highest bases in the 304 previous months) or the previous regime (300 previous months) will be applied.

Retirement age in 2026

Increase. The ordinary retirement age increases this 2026:

• 65 years for workers who can prove they have contributed 38 years and 3 months or more.

• 66 years and 10 months for workers who have not managed to prove they have contributed 38 years and 3 months.

In 2027, the progressive increase in the retirement age period ends. From then on, if the worker can prove 38 years and 6 months or more of contributions, they can retire at 65. If they prove less than 38 years and 6 months, the ordinary age will be 67.

In any case, workers must have contributed at least 15 years to Social Security, and two of those years must be within the 15 years prior to retirement. Ultimately, there are cases where determining the retirement age is a bit more complicated. See some examples below.

• Example 1 If a worker turned 65 on January 1, 2026, and at that time had 38 years of contributions, they will be able to retire starting from April 2026, since during the current year they will reach 38 years and 3 months of contributions.

• Example 2. On January 1, 2026, a company hired a worker who had not been working since they were 40 years old. Now, at 66 years old, and having contributed for 14 years, they want to contribute for one more year in order to retire. In this case, the individual will not be able to retire until they turn 68, because the law requires having contributed for two full years within the last 15, regardless of already reaching the age of 67 during that period.

The rule establishes a general provision for integrating periods without the obligation to contribute for the calculation of pensions – commonly known as contribution gaps – in the following manner: If there have been less than 49 months of non-contributions due to no obligation to contribute in the period for calculating the retirement pension, they will be integrated with the minimum contribution base at 100%. The remaining months (from the 49th onwards) will be integrated with 50% of said minimum base.

• Additionally, a special measure is introduced for female workers in order to reduce the gender pay gap in pensions (provided that it is greater than 5%):

• Months 49 to 60 will be integrated in that period with 100% of the minimum contribution base.

Months 61 to 84 will be integrated in that period with 80% of the minimum contribution base.

• Men may also be subject to this integration measure, but only if they can demonstrate that their career was affected by the birth or care of children.

• Increases in contributions

• Finally, in 2026 there are also increases in contributions, which mainly focus on two different concepts: the Intergenerational Equity Mechanism (which rises to 0. 9% – this year, 0. 75% is covered by the employer and the remaining 0. 25% by the worker) and the solidarity contribution, which increases as follows:

If there is an excess over the maximum base of up to 10%, a contribution of 1. 15% is applied to that excess.

If there is an excess over the maximum base between 10 and 50%, a contribution of 1. 25% is applied to that excess.

• If there is an excess over the maximum base of more than 50%, a contribution of 1. 46% is applied to that excess.

• The distribution of the solidarity contribution rate between the employer and the worker maintains the same proportion as the distribution of the common contingency contribution rate.

• If there is an excess over the maximum base of more than 50%, a contribution of 1. 46% is applied to that excess.

• The distribution of the contribution rate by solidarity between employer and worker maintains the same proportion as the distribution of the contribution rate for common contingencies.