In Galicia it is already happening

Make pension systems be sustainable In time while the population pyramid It will be reversed It is one of the main challenges For many countries in the coming decades. Japan, Denmark, Germany or Spain are already taking measures to delay as far as possible The retirement age.

The worst possible scenario is that the number of active workers Be lower than the number of pensioners. It is something that It is already happening In some regions of the interior of Galicia.

The Galician imbalance. According to the more recent data Of affiliation, Spain exceeded in March for the first time the figure of the 21.6 million affiliates. That is, active people who contribute a percentage of their salaries to social security pensions. For its part, Social Security paid in the same month 10.3 million pensions.

However, if we focus on certain regions areas very punished for depopulation and demographic aging such as Galicia, the figure is reversed. According to published he Vigo lighthousein 15 of the 53 regions of Galicia there is a mismatch between the number of affiliates who provide contributions to social security and the number of pensioners.

More pensioners than workers. The data of the GALEGO INSTITUTE OF STATISTICS They reveal that in the whole of Galicia there are 1,019,106 of social security affiliates, while The latest data of 2025 gave a total of 685,800 pensioners. That leaves Galicia with a ratio of 1.5 contributors for pensioner, compared to the 2.44 that is recorded on average In the whole of Spain.

This ratio already leaves Galicia in a delicate situation. He BBVA Pension Institute He considers that, a ratio below the 2 is already serious risk. According to data published by The voice of Galiciaprovinces like Orense were already in 1.1.

The “emptied Galicia”. Those regional figures only show a general photo in which territories with greater economic activity compensate for deficiencies of the most unpopulated areas and eminently rural from the interior of Galicia. This trend is especially observed in the provinces of Ourense and Lugo, where demographic aging and emigration of young people towards the Atlantic aspect with more employment opportunitiesThey have considerably aggravated the situation.

According to the published data by him Vigo lighthouseOnly Pontevedra is saved relatively from this problem, while in Ourense and Lugo the situation is especially serious. Regions with a high depopulation rate such as Limia registered 5,943 quotes against 7,071 pensioners; o Verin with 6,674 active affiliates for 8,161 pensioners, which clearly reflects the existing imbalance.

The lack of Labor opportunities And population aging in those interior regions has created a vicious circle difficult to break, where there are less and less young people to support a retired population in constant growth.

The future is not encouraging. The forecasts for the next few years are not optimistic. According to projections of the GALEGO INSTITUTE OF STATISTICS By 2038 there will be 2% less active population in Galicia, despite the fact that those over 16 will grow 1.9%.

In absolute terms, assets will go from just over 1.26 million in 2023 to 1.23 million in 2038, which will aggravate the imbalance between contributors and pensioners Leaving a ratio of 0.858 quotes for each pensioner. Or what is the same, more pensioners than active workers.

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Image | Unspash (Carlos Torres), Flickr (Elantir)