What goes up and what goes down in 2023
The year 2023 kicks off with increases in pensions, the minimum wage and the minimum living income, although this year also sees increases in telecommunications and motorway charges, while VAT on some foods, but not many, will fall or be abolished, making them cheaper.
Below are some items of daily life that are rising, falling or staying the same at the start of the year.
PENSIONS
– The rise in pensions in 2023 will be 8.5%, a revaluation that was calculated with the November inflation figure and which will be applied to contributory pensions and those of the passive classes.
– Non-contributory pensions will be increased by 15% as agreed by the Government with EH Bildu in the framework of the budget negotiations in Congress.
MINIMUM WAGE
The minimum interprofessional wage (SMI) will rise by between 4.6% and 8.2%, to 1,046 or 1,082 euros per month in 14 payments -from the current 1,000 euros-, in accordance with the report drawn up by the Ministry of Labour’s committee of experts.
However, negotiations will continue in January, as the trade unions have asked for a 10 % increase and the employers for a 4 % increase. The implementation of the increase, when approved, will be retroactive to 1 January.
CONTRIBUTIONS
The maximum contribution base will also be revalued by 8.5% in 2023. This increase is in addition to the entry into force of the intergenerational equity mechanism (MEI), which entails a 0.6 point increase in contributions, of which 0.5 points will be paid by the company and 0.1 by the worker.
UNEMPLOYMENT
In 2023, 60% of the regulatory base of unemployment benefit will also be recovered from 6 months. It will benefit some 300,000 people with an improvement in the benefit of 100 euros more per month on average.
CIVIL SERVANTS’ SALARIES
The budget for 2023 envisages a 2.5% wage increase for civil servants, plus another variable point that will be conditional on inflation in 2022 and 2023 and on GDP growth in both years.
MINIMUM LIVING INCOME
The minimum living income (IMV) will rise by 15% from next year, to 565.37 euros per month, to which an additional supplement will have to be added depending on the number of children in the household and their ages.
VAT ON FOOD
From 1 January, VAT will be eliminated on staple foods such as bread, bread flour, milk, cheese, eggs, fruit, vegetables, pulses, potatoes and cereals, while it will be reduced by half, from 10 % to 5 %, on oils and pasta.
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Movistar will raise prices in January by an average of 6.8% as a result of the increase in costs suffered by the sector (Movistar Max will increase by 5.6%; Movistar Ilimitado, by 6.7%; and Movistar Ilimitadox2, by 6.1%).
Vodafone will increase its tariffs by an average of 4 euros at the end of January (2.5 euros on average for mobile-only plans, and 5.5 euros on average for convergent plans).
TOLL MOTORWAYS
Tariffs on eleven motorways belonging to the General State Administration will rise by 4% from today; these are the AP-51, AP-61, AP-53, AP-66, AP-7 Alicante-Cartagena, AP-7 Málaga-Guadiaro, AP-68 and AP-71, AP-9, AP-6 and AP-46.
GAS
The year begins with a rise in the regulated gas tariff, the tariff of last resort (TUR), which for the first quarter of 2023 will increase by an average of 8.67% for individual tariffs.
For an average customer on TUR 1 – for consumption of 5,000 kilowatt hours (KWh) or less per year with hot water – the revision means an increase of 7.54% in their annual bill without taxes.
The neighbourhood TUR tariffs will see a decrease in the new year, which will be between 1.7% and 2%, depending on consumption.
BUTANE
The butane cylinder will start the year at 18.58 euros and its price will be revised again on the third Tuesday of January 2023, although until 30 June it will continue to be limited to a maximum of 19.55 euros.
ELECTRICITY
With regard to electricity, the tolls included in the bill (intended to cover network costs and remuneration to distribution and transmission companies for their investments) will fall by an average of 1.05% in 2023.
In the case of the charges on the bill (intended to cover the premiums for renewables, half of the extra-peninsular electricity system costs and the annuities of the electricity system deficit), the Ministry for Ecological Transition has proposed a 9.21% reduction by 2023.
FUELS
Without the Government’s discount, which meant about 11 euros less when filling an average 55-litre tank and which will generally disappear with the change of year, as it will only be maintained for professional groups and road transport, petrol cost an average of 1.565 euros in Spain last week and diesel 1.643 euros.
TRANSPORT
Airport fares, which are reflected in the price of airline tickets, will be frozen as of March 2023, determining that the maximum revenue per adjusted passenger (imaaj) will be 9.77 euros.
In trains, the price of single tickets for Cercanías, Media Distancia Convencional and Avant will remain frozen in 2023, after the Government, after extending free fares and discounts on public transport for regular passengers, has decided, for another year, not to review fares.
Renfe’s free tickets for Cercanías, Rodalies and conventional Media Distancia, as well as the 50% discount on Avant travel cards, have been extended for one year.
On buses, with the approval of free season tickets and multi-journey tickets on state-owned lines in 2023, and given that the conditions of recurrence are very flexible, the situation of single tickets has not yet been addressed.
The Ministry has financed 50% discounts on season tickets and multi-journey tickets for 42 state-owned intercity bus lines between 1 September and 31 December 2022, a measure that will be extended for a further month to make way for free tickets as of 1 February, in order to avoid asymmetries between the different modes of land transport.
POSTAL MAIL
From 1 January, the new Correos tariffs will come into force, so that the price of each ordinary national letter weighing up to 30 grams, the most commonly used product, will increase by 4%, or 3 euro cents, to 0.78 euros.
