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.

Current retirement ages in different countries
Current general retirement age (2021) | Future retirement age | |
---|---|---|
EU | Men/ Women | Retirement 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 mos | 65 (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) | 67 | 67+ (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 |
Australia | 58 ; 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 mos | 65 (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
PLEASE HELP US KEEP GOING AD-FREE
HELP US GROW.This is a "Pay as You Feel" website.
This blog has no source of state, corporate or institutional finance whatsoever. It runs entirely on voluntary subscriptions from its readers – many of whom do not necessarily agree with every article, but welcome the alternative voice, insider information and debate.
You can have access to all of our online work for free. However if you want to support what we do, you could make a small donation to help us keep writing and staying ad-free. The choice is entirely yours.