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Pension Table

• 1Contact
  • 1.1Contact organisation
    National Statistics Institute of Spain
    
  • 1.5Contact mail address
    Paseo de la Castellana 183 - 28046 Madrid
    
• 2Metadata update
  • 2.1Metadata last certified
    22/02/2021
  • 2.2Metadata last posted
    22/02/2021
  • 2.3Metadata last update
    22/02/2021
• 3Statistical presentation
  • 3.1Data description

    The Pension Table shows a complete perspective of pension rights in social insurance, including those generated in the field of public pension systems. In terms of national accounting, social insurance is understood as when participants are forced to register or are encouraged to do so by a third party in order to insure against certain social risks or circumstances that may harm their well-being or that of persons they oversee, and where employees or others, or employers on behalf of employees, pay social contributions to guarantee their right and that of their dependents or survivors to receive benefits in the current or future fiscal year.

    There are two main types of social insurance:

    - The social security systems, taxes, controlled and financed by the Public Administrations (in the Spanish case, this would refer to the Social Security System, in its various regimes, and the State Special Civil Service System).

    - Other systems linked to employment, arising from a contractual relationship between employer and employee, but where the responsibility for the payment of the pension does not lie with the Public Administrations.

    The table records the pension rights for retirement, permanent disability, widowhood, for family members and orphans accrued at the beginning and at the end of the reference year in each of these systems, and the flows explaining the variation of such rights throughout of the year (payments of contributions and social benefits, revaluations, other changes in volume, transfers between schemes, approved regulatory reforms, etc.).

    The table therefore excludes:

    • Social assistance, as it is not social security [1].
    • The pension plans and funds of the individual system, not included in this concept of social insurance.
    • Health and dependency insurance and sickness benefits, since these are not pensions.

    In summary, the Pension Table attempts to offer a complete and comparable image of the total pension rights in social insurance accrued on a specific date (beginning and end of the reference year) and valued in actuarial terms. The table is therefore not a valid instrument for evaluating system viability, since it does not reflect the future evolution of these rights and obligations. It does, however, constitute both a tool for monitoring them and for understanding and evaluating their operation. It is therefore a first attempt at a harmonised registration that allows a certain comparative vision at an international level.

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    [1]Social assistance and, therefore, the so-called non-contributory pensions in the Spanish case, are not social insurance, since social assistance benefits are paid without having paid the necessary contributions in a social insurance system.

  • 3.2Classification system
    • Clasificaciones utilizadas

      There are two main types of social insurance:

      - The social security systems, taxes, controlled and financed by the Public Administrations (in the Spanish case, we would speak of the Social Security System, in its various regimes, and the State Civil Special Service System system).

      - Other employment-linked systems, arising from a contractual relationship between employer and employee, but where the responsibility for the payment of the pension does not lie with the Public Administrations.

      Within the second, a distinction is made between:

      - Defined contribution systems: the amount of the pension to be collected by the employee corresponds exclusively to the accumulated funds derived from the contributions made throughout the employee's working life and the increase in value resulting from the investment of said funds.

      - Defined benefit systems: the amount of the pension to be collected by the employee upon retirement is determined by a formula, sometimes combined with a guaranteed minimum amount.

  • 3.3Sector coverage

    Not applicable.

  • 3.4Statistical concepts and definitions
  • 3.5Statistical unit

    The pension fund,as an institutional unit, that is, an elementary centre of economic decision characterized by uniformity of behaviour and an autonomy of decision in the exercise of its main function. Pension fundsare institutional units that are financial institutions and quasi-corporations primarily dedicated to financial intermediation resulting from the compensation of risks and social needs of the insured persons (social insurance)

  • 3.6Statistical population

    Resident pension fundsin the Spanish economy.

  • 3.7Reference area

    It is made up of the national economic territory:

    a. The area (geographical territory) submitted to the management and cash control of a single administration.

    b. Other free trade zones, including warehouses and factories under customs control.

    c. The national airspace, territorial waters and the continental shelf located in international waters over which the country enjoys exclusive rights.

    d. Territorial enclaves, which are geographic territories located in the rest of the world and used under international treaties or agreements between States, by public administrations in the country (embassies, consulates, military bases, etc.)

    e. The deposits (oil, gas, etc.) located in international waters outside of the continental shelf in the country, exploited by resident units in the territory according to the previous points.

  • 3.8Time coverage

    2018

  • 3.9Base period

    Not applicable.

• 4Unit of measure
  • 4.1Unit of measure

    Millions of euros

• 5Reference period
  • 5.1Reference period

    Data referring to the period: Annual A: 2018

• 6Institutional mandate
  • 6.1Legal acts and other agreements

    The compilation and dissemination of the data are governed by the Statistical Law No. 12/1989 "Public Statistical Function" of May 9, 1989, and Law No. 4/1990 of June 29 on “National Budget of State for the year 1990" amended by Law No. 13/1996 "Fiscal, administrative and social measures" of December 30, 1996, makes compulsory all statistics included in the National Statistics Plan. The National Statistical Plan 2009-2012 was approved by the Royal Decree 1663/2008. It contains the statistics that must be developed in the four year period by the State General Administration's services or any other entity dependent on it. All statistics included in the National Statistics Plan are statistics for state purposes and are obligatory. The National Statistics Plan 2021-2024, approved by Royal Decree 1110/2020, of 15  December, is the Plan currently implemented. This statistical operation has governmental purposes, and it is included in the National Statistics Plan 2021-2024. (Statistics of the State Administration).

    
    

    The collection, processing and dissemination of data from statistical operations for state purposes is governed by the provisions of Law 12/1989, of May 9, on the Public Statistical Function (LFEP), and in the Fourth Additional Provision of the Law 4/1990, of June 29. The LFEP establishes that the National Statistical Plan is the main instrument that organizes the statistical activity of the State Administration and contains the statistics to be prepared in the four-year period by the services of the State Administration or any other entities dependent on it. All the statistics included in the National Statistical Plan are statistics for state purposes and must be completed. The 2017-2020 National Statistical Plan, approved by Royal Decree 410/2016, of October 31, is the plan currently in force. This operation is a statistic for central government purposes and is included in the 2017-2020 National Statistical Plan. (Statistics in the State Administration)

    Regulation (EU) 549/2013, of May 21, regarding the European System of National and Regional Accounts establishes the methodological provisions for the preparation of national accounts in order to obtain a coherent, reliable and comparable quantitative description of the economies of the countries of the European Union.
  • 6.2Data sharing
    The exchanges of information needed to elaborate statistics between the INE and the rest of the State statistical offices (Ministerial Departments, independent bodies and administrative bodies depending on the State General Administration), or between these offices and the Autonomic statistical offices, are regulated in the LFEP (Law of the Public Statistic Function). This law also regulates the mechanisms of statistical coordination, and concludes cooperation agreements between the different offices when necessary.
    

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• 7Confidentiality
  • 7.1Confidentiality - policy
    The Statistical Law No. 12/1989 specifies that the INE cannot publish, or make otherwise available, individual data or statistics that would enable the identification of data for any individual person or entity. Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics stipulates the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of data used for the production of European statistics and the access to those confidential data with due account for technical developments and the requirements of users in a democratic society
    
  • 7.2Confidentiality - data treatment
    INE provides information on the protection of confidentiality at all stages of the statistical process: INE questionnaires for the operations in the national statistical plan include a legal clause protecting data under statistical confidentiality. Notices prior to data collection announcing a statistical operation notify respondents that data are subject to statistical confidentiality at all stages. For data processing, INE employees have available the INE data protection handbook, which specifies the steps that should be taken at each stage of processing to ensure reporting units' individual data are protected. The microdata files provided to users are anonymised.
    

    In particular, the Pensions Table is a synthetic statistic whose results are compiled from the aggregated data from other statistical or administrative sources, with it not being possible to identify information relating to individual units in these, which would be protected, in any case, by statistical confidentiality according to the provisions of Law 9/1989 on the Public Statistics Service.

• 8Release policy
  • 8.1Release calendar
    The advance release calendar that shows the precise release dates for the coming year is disseminated in the last quarter of each year.
    
  • 8.2Release calendar access
    The calendar is disseminated on the INEs Internet website (Publications Calendar)
    
  • 8.3User access
    The data are released simultaneously according to the advance release calendar to all interested parties by issuing the press release. At the same time, the data are posted on the INE's Internet website (www.ine.es/en) almost immediately after the press release is issued. Also some predefined tailor-made requests are sent to registered users. Some users could receive partial information under embargo as it is publicly described in the European Statistics Code of Practice
    
• 9Frequency of dissemination
  • 9.1Frequency of dissemination

    Triennial

• 10Accessibility and clarity
  • 10.1News release
    The results of the statistical operations are normally disseminated by using press releases that can be accessed via both the corresponding menu and the Press Releases Section in the web
    

    The dissemination of the results of the Pension Table was accompanied by the following explanatory note:

    https://www.ine.es/dyngs/INEbase/es/operacion.htm?c=Estadistica_C&cid=1254736177063&menu=resultados&idp=1254735576581

  • 10.2Publications

    The results referring to year t are published in December of year t+2.

  • 10.3On-line database

    INEbase is the system the INE uses to store statistical information on the Internet. It contains all the information the INE produces in electronic formats. The primary organisation of the information follows the theme-based classification of the Inventory of Statistical Operations of the State General Administration . The basic unit of INEbase is the statistical operation, defined as the set of activities that lead to obtaining statistical results on a determined sector or subject based on the individually collected data. Also included in the scope of this definition are synthesis preparation.

    
    

    The information available is at:

    https://www.ine.es/dyngs/INEbase/es/operacion.htm?c=Estadistica_C&cid=1254736177063&menu=ultiDatos&idp=1254735576581

    Number of queries to data tables AC1=... queries

  • 10.4Micro-data access
    A lot of statistical operations disseminate public domain anonymized files, available free of charge for downloading in the INE website Microdata Section
    

    As it is a synthetic statistic, there are no microdata.

  • 10.5Other

    Not applicable

  • 10.6Documentation on methodology

    This operation is carried out in accordance with the accounting principles established in the European System of National and Regional Accounts (ESA 2010):

    https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/ES/TXT/HTML/?uri=OJ:L:2013:174:FULL&from=ES

    The Inventory of Sources and Methods of the Pension Table is also available.

    https://www.ine.es/dyngs/INEbase/es/operacion.htm?c=Estadistica_C&cid=1254736177063&menu=metodologia&idp=1254735576581

    Metadata completeness rate AC3=100%

  • 10.7Quality documentation

    To date, no quality report on this operation has been released.

    However, it should be mentioned that Eurostat publishes an annual quality report on the national accounts of each Member State within the framework of ESA-2010, following the guidelines established by Regulation (EC) 2016/2304 of December 19, 2016 on modalities, structure, periodicity and evaluation of indicators of the quality reports of the data transmitted in accordance with Regulation (EU) 549/2013 of the European Parliament and the Council on the European System of National and Regional Accounts.

    Fields 10.6 to 17 of this document are the user-oriented quality report for this operation.

• 11Quality management
  • 11.1Quality assurance

    Quality assurance framework for the INE statistics is based on the ESSCoP, the European Statistics Code of Practice made by EUROSTAT. The ESSCoP is made up of 16 principles, gathered in three areas: Institutional Environment, Processes and Products. Each principle is associated with some indicators which make possible to measure it. In order to evaluate quality, EUROSTAT provides different tools: the indicators mentioned above, Self-assessment based on the DESAP model, peer review, user satisfaction surveys and other proceedings for evaluation.

    
    

    The Table of Pensionsis developed and published in accordance with the principles set out in the European Statistics Code of Practice.

    Furthermore, as a synthesis statistic, its quality derives from that of the base sources it uses (supervised individual accounting information and information contained in administrative records).

    It is worth mentioning that, given that both the objectives and the information that the Pension Table intends to collect, present obvious conceptual difficulties and require a high level of expert knowledge in the financial, insurance and actuarial fields that goes beyond the national accounts systems. The sources and compilation methods have been chosen and designed in close collaboration with experts belonging to external organizations of various fields, such as the Ministry of Social Security, the General Directorate of Insurance and Pension Funds of the Ministry of Economy and of the Bank of Spain, and following the recommendations of the Eurostat Pension Data Compilation Guide.

  • 11.2Quality assessment

    Eurostat undergoes exhaustive quality analysis of the data transmitted by Spain regarding its national accounts, within the framework of the provisions of the Program for the Transmission of data from national accounts to Eurostat established by Regulation (EU) 549/2013 on the European System of National and Regional Accounts, as well as in application of Regulation (EU) 1287/2013, of the European Parliament and of the Council, on harmonisation of gross national income at market prices and of Regulation (EU) 479/2009 relative to the Protocol on the applicable procedure in the case of excessive deficit.

    In this sense, the publication of the Pension Table includes 100% of the stocks and economic flows that are indicated as mandatory by the Transfer Program associated with the European System of Accounts 2010 (ESA 2010).

    A future point of improvement will consist of expanding the publication with some results that are indicated as voluntary in said Transmissions Program.

• 12Relevance
  • 12.1User needs

    The Pension Table aims to offer a complete and comparable image of the total pension rights in social insurance accrued on a specific date (beginning and end of the reference year) and valued in actuarial terms. The table is therefore not a valid instrument for evaluating system viability, since it does not reflect the future evolution of these rights and obligations. It does, however, constitute both a tool for monitoring them and for understanding and evaluating their operation. It is therefore a first attempt at a harmonized registry that provides a comparative vision at an international level. This operation can be used to analyse and evaluate the structure of the Spanish economy as a whole, parts or specific aspects of the national economy, the national economic evolution, and the different economic agents and, in turn, make comparisons with other economies.

    40px;"> The results are, therefore, of great relevance for the Government of Spain and for the EU and its Member States when formulating and supervising their economic and social policy. With this, among the main users of the results of this operation we can highlight the Government of Spain itself, the European Commission, the European Central Bank, OECD, IMF and all kinds of economic studies and analysts.

  • 12.2User satisfaction

    The INE has carried out general user satisfaction surveys in 2007, 2010, 2013,  2016 and 2019 and it plans to continue doing so every three years. The purpose of these surveys is to find out what users think about the quality of the information of the INE statistics and the extent to which their needs of information are covered. In addition, additional surveys are carried out in order to acknowledge better other fields such as dissemination of the information, quality of some publications...

    On the INE website, in its section Methods and Projects / Quality and Code of Practice / INE quality management / User surveys are available surveys conducted to date.(Click  next link)

     

    
    

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  • 12.3Completeness

    This operation complies with all the information requirements established by the Eurostat Data Transmission Program determined in Regulation (EU) 549/2013 on the European System of National and Regional Accounts 2010.

    Data completeness rate R1=100%

• 13Accuracy and reliability
  • 13.1Overall accuracy

    This operation is a synthetic statistic, so its accuracy depends, to a large extent, on the sources of information used in its preparation.

    Sampling errors A1=not applicable to this statistical operation.

  • 13.2Sampling error

    This operation is a synthetic statistic, meaning that the issue of sampling errors does not apply. Nor is it indirectly affected by such errors, since its sources of information do not use sample surveys.

    Sampling errors A1=not applicable to this statistical operation.

  • 13.3Non-sampling error

    This operation is a synthetic statistic. In this operation, non-sampling errors can come from both the sources and the information processing itself.

    Overcoverage rate A2=not applicable to this statistical operation.

    Proportion of common units when using sampling and administrative sources A3=not applicable to this statistical operation.

    Non-response rate per unit A =not applicable to this statistical operation.

    Non-response rate per item A5=not applicable to this statistical operation.

    A7 imputation rate=not applicable to this statistical operation.

• 14Timeliness and punctuality
  • 14.1Timeliness

    The results are published 24 months after the end of their reference period.

    Opportunity final results TP2=24 months

  • 14.2Punctuality

    The data is disseminated according to the calendar of availability of the structural statistics that the INE prepares and publishes each year.

    Punctuality in the publication TP3=100%

• 15Coherence and Comparability
  • 15.1Comparability - geographical

    One of the objectives of the ESA 2010 is the harmonisation of the methodology and the precision and rigour of the concepts, definitions, classifications and accounting rules that must be applied in order to obtain a comparable description of the economies of European Union countries. Therefore, the data collected in this operation are comparable with those of EU Member States.

    They are also compatible at the international level given that ESA concepts are entirely consistent with those contained in the existing guidelines on national accounting at the global level, as reflected in the System of National Accounts (developed under the joint responsibility of the United Nations, International Monetary Fund, Eurostat, OECD and the World Bank).

    However, outside the scope of the EU, there may be differences in the practical implementation by different countries of the recommendations contained in said accounting standard.

  • 15.2Comparability - over time

    The results disseminated annually are fully comparable with each other, as they are prepared according to the same accounting methodology (ESA 2010) and according to homogeneous sources and statistical procedures.

    Comparable time series length CC2=1

  • 15.3Coherence - cross domain

    Part of the results of the Pension Table (those referring to the stocks of pension rights other pension systems linked to employment and the flows that explain their variation, as well as some of the flows that determine the evolution of pension rights in social security systems) are already included in the national accounts system, both in the non-financial accounts of the institutional sectors, as well as in their financial accounts and balance sheets. In particular, the results of this operation are fully consistent with those of the Annual Non-Financial Accounts of the Institutional Sectors, prepared by the INE, and with the Accounts of the Public Administrations prepared by the General Intervention Board of the State Administration, that are integrated into the previous ones.

    Furthermore, as a synthetic statistic, the results of this operation are, in general, consistent with those of the statistical and administrative sources used in its preparation. They are not fully consistent, however, given the conceptual and methodological differences.

  • 15.4Coherence - internal

    The accounting methodology established in the ESA 2010 guarantees compliance in the Pension Table of with identities established therein and, with it, the coherence of all the measures established to describe the evolution of pension rights accrued in insurance social activities in the Spanish economy and the operation of its pension systems.

• 16Cost and burden
  • 16.1Cost and burden

    The estimate of the budgetary allocation necessary to finance this statistical operation provided for in the 2020 Annual Programme is 80.00 thousand Euros.

    This statistical operation does not place any burden on the informants. As this is a synthetic statistic, it uses data already available in the administration.

• 17Data revision
  • 17.1Data revision - policy

    The INE of Spain has a policy which regulates the basic aspects of statistical data revision, seeking to ensure process transparency and product quality. This policy is laid out in the document approved by the INE board of directors on 13 March of 2015, which is available on the INE website, in the section "Methods and projects/Quality and Code of Practice/INE’s Quality management/INE’s Revision policy" (link).

    This general policy sets the criteria that the different type of revisions should follow:  routine revision- it is the case of statistics whose production process includes regular revisions-; more extensive revision- when methodological or basic reference source changes take place-; and exceptional revision- for instance, when an error appears in a published statistic-.

    
    

    The national accounts are a structural statistical product whose reach is both immediate and structural, meaning that estimates of the different operations and aggregates are subject to review and disaggregation process prior to finalisation. This process is determined by the dependence of national accounts on statistical information, in the sense that the more conjunctural and aggregated the base information, the more provisional the nature of the national accounts estimate.

    However, the basic information necessary for the compilation of the Pension Table is final at the time of results preparation, 24 months after the end of its reference period. This means that once released, further revision is is not anticipated.

  • 17.2Data revision - practice

    The results of this operation will not be reviewed once they are released.

• 18Statistical processing
  • 18.1Source data

    This operation incorporates different sources of economic information. In general terms:

    - In pension systems whose guarantor is an institutional unitnot belonging to the institutional sector of Public Administrations:

    The main source used is financial and accounting statements, sent by the managing entities of pension funds and insurance companies to the General Directorate of Insurance and Pension Funds (DGSFP) of the Ministry of Economy (or equivalent), as part of their supervision duties. Specific:

    - Annual accounting statistical documentation of group insurance.

    - Annual accounting statistical documentation of insurance companies.

    - In pension systems whose guarantor is Public Administrations:

    - Information on pensioners, pensions and contributors in the various Social Security regimes of the General Directorate of Social Security of the Ministry of Social Security (or equivalent).

    - Information on pensioners and pensions in the passive class system of the Ministry of Public Administrations (or equivalent).

    - Information on contributors to the State Pensioners’ mutual funds for civil servants of the State (MUFACE, ISFAS, MUGEJU).

    - Projection of the future evolution of the amounts of the average high pensions, both in the Social Security system and in that of State Pensioners carried out by the Ministry of Economy and Business in the scope of the Working Group on Ageing Populations and Sustainability, which operates under the mandate granted to the Economic Policy Committee (EPC) by the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) in 2015 to update and provide more depth for its age-related spending projections, based on the population projections compiled by Eurostat.

    - Mortality tables projected for Spain in the Eurostat Population Projections 2015-2080.

    - Accounts of the Public Administrations, of the General Intervention of the State Administration (IGAE).

    - Ongoing Sample of Professional Life (OSPL), prepared by the Ministry of Social Security (or equivalent).

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  • 18.2Frequency of data collection

    The collection of data from the results of the base statistics is based on the dissemination of information from the different sources used. In any case, annual information is incorporated into the Pension Table.

  • 18.3Data collection

    The data used comes mainly from administrative records. The collection of such data varies according to the type of source. In general, the necessary information is sent directly from the responsible agencies to the Department of National Accounts.

    In section 18.1 Source Data the source of information is listed.

  • 18.4Data validation
    The information used in the compilation of the Table of Pensions comes, mainly, from administrative records and accounting notes, all of which are subject to the corresponding supervision by the managing body or supervisor. However, all information used is previously subjected to various plausibility analyses.
  • 18.5Data compilation

    In the case of pension systems in which the guarantor is an institutional unit not belonging to the institutional sector of Public Administrations, in general, the determination of the initial and final stocks of rights, as well as the corresponding flows explaining the variation between the two, is done through a transfer of the accounting information contained in their financial statements.

    In the case of pension systems in which the guarantor is an institutional unitbelonging to the institutional sector of Public Administrations, the estimation is carried out separately for the Social Security pension system (in its various regimes) and the system of passive classes of the State, as well as for each one of the existing schemes in each. In each case, an actuarial estimate of the pension rights accrued on a given date is carried out in accordance with the principles established in the Guide for the Compilation of Pension Data in Eurostat National Accounts (2020), separately for the groups of pensioners, contributors to employment registration and reversible income. Finally, the estimate of the flows that explain the variation of such rights are compiled from the results also incorporated by the IGAE into the Public Administration Accounts and from the accounting and budgetary information of the Social Security managing entities, following from new the principles established in the Eurostat Guide for the Compilation of Pension Data in National Accounts (2020).

  • 18.6Adjustment

    Not applicable.

• 19Comment
  • 19.1Comment