Instead of 1,528 pesos, the monthly payment will be 3,056 pesos for about 430,000 people.
14ymedio, Havana, July 16, 2025 — The Cuban government announced this Wednesday an increase in the minimum pension for about 430,000 retirees starting in September, as confirmed by the prime minister, Manuel Marrero Cruz, before Parliament. State aid will increase from 1,528 Cuban pesos (about $12.70 at the official exchange rate) to 3,056 pesos ($25.40), a figure that, although it represents twice the current amount, is still well below informal market prices.
Marrero justified the measure after a recent meeting of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC), where the “complex situation of pensioners’ incomes” was assessed. According to the head of government, the adjustment will benefit 79 per cent of all retirees in the country — about 1.3 million people — who currently receive less than 4,000 pesos. “We are still looking for solutions, but I think it is fair that, although now we cannot cover everyone, we have started with 1.3 million because they are the most vulnerable,” said Marrero.
The Government did not specify where the resources will come from to cover this sum.
The measure will have an estimated tax cost of 22,000 million pesos per year (about 916 million dollars at the official exchange rate for companies), although the Government has not specified where the resources will come from to cover this sum. Marrero only advanced that “a group of measures” will be implemented to finance the expenditure, without providing details.
However, beyond the official rhetoric, the real impact of this adjustment on pensions is limited. In a country where one carton of 30 eggs can exceed 3,000 pesos, the new minimum would barely cover a single commodity, leaving pensioners unprotected against the rest of everyday expenses, from medicines and transport to electricity, water and food. As manyindependent economists have warned, the problem is not only the low level of income, but the continued devaluation of the Cuban peso and the galloping inflation that has pulverized purchasing power.
More than a quarter of the Cuban population is aged 60 or over.
According to recent data from the National Bureau of Statistics and Information (ONEI), more than a quarter of the Cuban population is aged 60 or over. Between 2021 and 2023, the number of people over 60 grew from 2.3 million to 2.4 million, an increase of 3%. In contrast, the 15-59 age group fell by almost 12 per cent from 6.7 million to 5.9 million. This demographic change poses enormous challenges for a social security system that is increasingly supported by fewer contributors and more dependents.
The situation is compounded by deteriorating health services, chronic drug shortages and the collapse of the primary care system for older adults. In provinces like Guantanamo and Granma, homes for the elderly survive on donations, while many retirees must rely on remittances from relatives abroad, barter or informal jobs to survive. In recent reports, 14ymedio has documented how retirees sell coffee, soap and cigars on the streets, collect plastic bottles or take care of houses for tourists as their only means of subsistence.
The announcement looks more like a gesture of restraint than a substantive solution.
In addition, while the Government announces these partial reforms, it offers no guarantees of transparency or mechanisms for citizen control over the use of the state budget. The increase in pensions comes without being accompanied by a comprehensive economic reform plan or a coherent fiscal policy that addresses the structural roots of the crisis: unproductivity, bureaucracy and unbridled inflation. Nor have immediate relief measures such as the opening of markets in national currency or the liberalization of individual imports without customs barriers been considered.
In the midst of this panorama, the announcement seems more a gesture of restraint than a substantive solution. The population is aging, families are emigrating, and the generation that built the Revolution today is forced to subsist on pensions that do not cover even one lunch. With the currency in free fall, undersupplied markets and stagnant wages, doubling the minimum pension is at best a bandaid on an open wound.
Translated by Regina Anavy
____________
COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.