Retirement Age in Europe: How Much It Will Rise by 2069 — 2026 Update

Retirement ages continue to rise in most European countries, and this trend is only set to increase in the coming decades. Find out how many years Europeans will work longer by 2069, which countries are changing their pension laws now, and how decisions in Germany and France in 2026 could affect future retirees

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Twenty years ago, retirement at 62–63 seemed the norm for most Europeans. Today, the retirement age in Europe is steadily creeping up, and, judging by the calculations of demographers, this is only the beginning of a long process, Euronews reports. According to the OECD report “Pensions at a Glance 2025”, in the countries of the European Union the standard retirement age for men will increase from the current 64.7 to 66.9 years, and for women – from 64 to 66.6 years by the end of the 2060s. Approximately two-thirds of European countries will raise the threshold for men, and three-quarters – for women.

The OECD calculations compare two groups: those who retired in 2024 and those who in the same year only started their working life at the age of 22, assuming an uninterrupted career. The second group will retire on average in the late 2060s – and it is their example that shows how much longer the working experience of future generations will become.

Read also how pensions are formed in Germany, the Netherlands and other EU countries in 2026, what accrual models exist and what amount to realistically expect after the end of your career.

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Who is retiring the latest today?

As of 2024, the highest retirement ages for men – 67 years – are recorded in Denmark, Norway, Iceland and the Netherlands, while the EU average is 64.7 years. Turkey stands out sharply, where men can retire as early as 52 years, and the next lowest thresholds – 62 years – are in force in Greece, Slovenia and Luxembourg.

Among the five largest economies of the continent, Germany has the highest retirement age for men – 66.2 years, and France has the lowest – 64.3 years.

For women, the picture is similar: Denmark, the Netherlands, Iceland and Norway lead with an age of 67 years, and the lowest threshold of all countries is again in Turkey, at just 49 years, followed by Poland with 60 years.

Photo – Euronews

Forecast to the end of the 2060s: how many years will the working period increase

According to OECD forecasts, men who started their careers in 2024 will retire on average at 66.9 years old – around 2069. The highest future threshold will be in Denmark, where, thanks to linking the retirement age to life expectancy, the indicator could reach 74 years. The threshold will rise to 71 in Estonia, and to 70 in Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden and Cyprus. The lowest among the predicted retirement ages will remain in Slovenia and Luxembourg – 62 years old.

Turkey is set to see the biggest increase: the retirement age for men is expected to rise by 13 years, from 52 to 65. Denmark (up seven years), Estonia, Italy, Slovakia and Cyprus (at least five years) will also see significant increases.

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For women, the trend is even more pronounced. On average across the EU, the retirement age for women starting their careers in 2024 will rise to 66.6 years, 2.6 years more than for those retiring now. Since Turkey started from a very low starting point, it is this country that will see the biggest jump, by 14 years, from 49 to 63. Italy (+6.2 years), Denmark (+7 years) and Estonia (+6.3 years) are also expected to see significant increases. Meanwhile, in Poland, the retirement age for women is projected to remain at 60, the lowest in the EU.

Photo – Euronews

Who is already changing the rules for retirement in 2026?

The OECD’s long-term projections are a baseline scenario under current law, but this year’s political reality shows how quickly such plans can change.

Germany

In Germany, in the summer of 2026, a special expert commission set up by Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s government presented a proposal to gradually raise the retirement age to around 70 – though this is for the early 2090s, not the next decade. Currently, the basic retirement age in Germany is still set to rise to 67 only by 2031, and the commission’s new idea is still a recommendation, not a law. The commission also proposes linking the retirement age to life expectancy and abolishing early retirement mechanisms.

France

The opposite example is France. The 2023 reform, which was supposed to gradually raise the retirement age from 62 to 64, was suspended in the National Assembly in November 2025, and this decision was finally enshrined in the budget law, which came into force on September 1, 2026. Now the increase in the retirement age and the length of service required for a full pension is frozen until at least 2028: for citizens born in 1964-1968, the threshold is fixed between 62 years and 9 months and 63 years and 9 months. This means that the indicators from the OECD long-term forecasts for France should be taken with a grain of salt - the final decision on the future fate of the reform will be made after the 2027 presidential elections.

These two examples illustrate the general picture well: the retirement age in Europe is not a fixed number, but the subject of constant political bargaining, which depends on the budgetary situation, demographics and election results in each individual country.

The top countries to move to for retirement in 2026 are here.

Why is the retirement age continuing to rise?

The main reason is the aging of the population. According to the OECD report, on average, for every 100 people of working age (20–64 years old), in 25 years there will be 52 people aged 65 and over – compared to 33 in 2025 and only a few dozen in the early 2000s. The fewer workers support the growing number of pensioners, the greater the pressure on state budgets.

The OECD report directly states that raising the retirement age remains the main tool for maintaining the financial sustainability of pension systems without reducing the size of benefits. The alternatives – increasing contributions or reducing benefits – are even less politically popular, so governments are mostly choosing to extend working lives, even despite protests, as has repeatedly happened in France, Italy and other countries.

For those planning a long-term career or moving to Europe, this means one thing: it is not the current retirement age of the country that should be included in their plans, but the one that will be in effect in a decade, when it is time to take a well-deserved rest.

Countries where a retirement visa entitles you to tax benefits, and the conditions for participating in each program, see the link.

The increase in the retirement age in Europe means that more and more people will plan their careers decades ahead, and legal employment abroad is becoming an important part of such a plan. The longer a person officially works and pays contributions in the chosen country, the more this can affect their future pension thanks to agreements on the summing up of seniority. But before you can legally work abroad, you need to understand the requirements for a work visa or work permit, which differ for each country and each citizenship.

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