The Social Security Administration recently announced that there will be an 8.7% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) in retirees’ Social Security benefit payments beginning in Jan. 2023. This is the largest social security increase in more than 40 years. The reason behind the large increase again in 2023 is high inflation. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased by 8.5% for the 12-month period that ended September 2022.
Social Security benefits are adjusted annually to protect retirees from the effects of inflation. The COLA is an increase—if any—as measured by the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) prepared by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The chart below shows the increases in Social Security over the last 15 years.
Year Increase
2009 5.8%
2010 —
2011 —
2012 3.6%
2013 1.7%
2014 1.5%
2015 1.7%
2016 —
2017 0.3%
2018 2.0%
2019 2.8%
2020 1.6%
2021 1.3%
2022 5.9%
2023 8.7%
Should you have any questions regarding Social Security payments, visit www.ssa.gov.