The body warns, at a general level and without specifying any country, that the future of pension systems depends on the decision being made to raise contributions, extend the retirement age or reduce pensions.

A pensioner during a demonstration of this group in Bilbao.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has warned of the impact that the aging of the population will have on the “financial sustainability” of the Spanish pension system, according to the annex for Spain of the biennial report ‘Pensions at a glance’, published this Wednesday.

The document explains that the income of those over 65 is equivalent to around 96% of the average income of the total population, which is eight percentage points more than in the OECD as a whole. In addition, in Spain this ratio has grown by 11 points compared to 2000, which means that the income of the elderly has grown at a higher rate than that of others.

The OECD considers that this increase is due in large part to the fact that pension spending per retiree has grown at a rate much faster than the median salary. In this sense, although demographic changes have registered a lag with respect to the rest of the OECD countries, aging “is now accelerating at a very rapid rate, putting a strong pressure on financial sustainability,” the agency has warned.

Read more @CVBJ