Retirement ages set to rise EU wide by 2050

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image credit Andy Davey

Retirement Ages in Member States.

In the EU15 states, the general retirement age is 65 years. In most new Member States, the retirement age will be raised to the same level over the next decade. Denmark, France, Germany and Spain have decided to raise the retirement age from 65 to 67 years, while the goal is 68 years in Britain and Ireland. For the main part, the changes in retirement ages will occur in the 2020s.

In Finland, Cyprus, Denmark, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Slovakia, the retirement age will be linked to the development of the expected life expectancy. In Britain, the retirement age will be raised taking life expectancy into account. In the Czech Republic, the retirement age will be raised with a fixed increase of two months per year without an upper limit.

Retirement ages in 2050

Linking the retirement age to life expectancy means that the retirement age in the UK will be somewhat over 69 in 2050 according to current projections. By then, the highest retirement age within the OECD area will be in Denmark: 72 years.

eu pensions

Current retirement ages in different countries

Current general retirement age (2021) Future retirement age
EU Men/ WomenRetirement age or men/women
Austria (AT)65 / 60  65 (2033)
Belgium (BE)65  67 (2030)
Bulgaria (BG)66 yrs 8 mos 67 (2023)
Croatia (HR)65 / 62 yrs 69 mos 67 (2033)
Cyprus (CY)65 65+ (2023)
Czech (CZ)63 yrs 10 mos65 (2036)
Denmark (DK)67 ; 66 yrs 6 mos*67 (2022); 68+ (2030)
Estonia (EE)64 65 (2026)
65+ (2027)
Finland (FI)63 yrs 9 mos – 68; 65 yrs* 65+ (2027); 65+ (2030)
 France (FR)66 yrs 7 mos 67 (2023)
Germany (DE)65 yrs 9 mos 67 (2031)
United Kingdom (UK)66 68 (2046)
Greece (EL)67 67+ years (2021)
Hungary (HU)65
Ireland (IE)66
Italy (IT)6767+ (2022)
Latvia (LV)64  65 (2025)
Lithuania (LT)64 yrs 2 mos/ 63 yrs 4 mos 65 (2026)
Luxembourg (LU) 65 –
Malta (MT) 63  65 (2027)
Netherlands (NL) 66 yrs 4 mos 67+ (2025)
Poland (PL) 65 / 60  –
Portugal (PT) 66 yrs 6 mos 66+ (2016)
Romania (RO) 65 / 61 yrs 6 –9 mos -/63 (2030)
Slovakia (SK) 62 yrs 8–10 mos 64 (2030)
Slovenia (SI) 65  –
Spain (ES) 66  67 (2027)
Sweden (SE)62-68 ; 65*63-69 (2023),  63+ (2026); 66 (2023), 66+ (2026)
Other countries Men / Women Retirement age or men/women
Australia58 ; 66 yrs 6 mos*60 (2024); 67 (2023)*
Canada (CA) 65 –
Iceland (IS) 67
Japan (JP)63 / 61 ; 65* 65 (2025) / 65 (2030); –
Norway (NO)62–75; 67* –
Russia (RU)61 yrs 6 mos / 56 yrs 6 mos65 (2028); 60 (2028)
Switzerland (CH)65 / 64 –
USA (US)66 yrs 2 mos 67 (2027)
* FI, SE, DK, NO, AU and JP: the retirement age of the national pension has been separated from that of the earnings-related pension with a semicolon.  GP= Government proposal or plan of equivalent administrative level + = Retirement age rising along with increasing life expectancy.

Data taken from OECD. LINK

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