The average retirement payment in Canarias rose 4.8% in October to 1,256.3 euros, but it still sat almost 120 euros below Spain’s national average of 1,376.14 euros. For the 385,529 pensionistas in the islands, the increase was real — and so was the gap.
That gap is why the figures are being watched now. October brought a higher regional average, a larger pension bill and a national system that kept moving upward at the same time, with Social Security paying 10,565,782 pensions to more than 9.5 million people. The latest update also comes after the Government approved a general revaluation of 2.7% for 2026, the next step for retirees trying to keep pace with costs.
The islands’ average remains lower because the overall mix of pensions is lower. In Canarias, 219,493 people receive a retirement pension averaging 1,460.42 euros a month, while 84,082 receive widowhood pensions averaging 919.88 euros, 63,086 receive permanent disability pensions averaging 1,202.02 euros, 16,171 receive orphan pensions averaging 525.01 euros and 2,697 receive pensions in favor of other family members averaging 800.15 euros. Those categories pull the regional average down even as the number of pensionistas rose 2.7% from a year earlier.
At the national level, the contributory pension payroll reached 14,539.9 million euros, 6.3% more than in October 2025. The average retirement pension in the national system reached 1,577.6 euros a month, up 4.5% year on year, which helps explain why a regional rise in Canarias does not erase the distance. For readers tracking what this means for household budgets, the same pension rules that shape these monthly amounts also determine future increases, as explained in Spain’s retirement system coverage.
So the answer is not that Canarias failed to improve. It improved, but not enough to close a structural gap that is still measuring in nearly 120 euros a month. The next confirmed lift is the 2.7% revaluation for 2026, and the question is whether that will narrow the distance or simply raise both sides of it.
