In many countries around the world, the age at which someone can retire and claim a government pension is on the rise.
In Britain, the state pension age will rise from 66 to 67 for men and women by 2028. Further rises have not been ruled out.
According to a report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies this week, Britons face working until they are 74 unless the Government scraps the triple lock on pensions.
As of 2022, the statutory retirement age for men in the European Union, which Britain is no longer part of, ranged from 62 to 67, while for women it ranged from 60 to 67.
When Britain, European Free Trade Association countries and EU candidate Turkey are included in the analysis, Turkey stood out as an outlier, with retirement ages of just 49 for women and 52 for men.
This means Britain’s retirement age is 14 years higher than in Turkey for men.
Why is Turkey’s retirement age so low?
Turkey’s retirement ages are low thanks to major changes announced in 2022.
In December 2022, Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan eliminated a retirement age requirement in a move which enabled more than 2million workers to retire immediately.
This happened less than six months before an election as part of a campaign to win back voter support.
The arrangement in Turkey benefits people who started working before September 1999, when the law regulating retirement requirements changed, and who have completed 20 to 25 years of social security registered working life.
Previously, the retirement age was set at 58 years for women and at 60 years for men in Turkey. It was not yet clear how much the new system is costing.
Last year, reports claimed the Turkish government was planning to raise the retirement age and change the salary formula basing it to the number of premium days.
Which countries have the oldest retirement age?
Average retirement ages vary significantly by country and can change frequently as a result of political and economic events.
With life expectancy and the number of years people are spending in retirement increasing in Europe and elsewhere, some countries have already upped their retirement ages.
Three Nordic countries, namely Denmark, Norway, and Iceland, have the highest retirement age, at 67 for both men and women.
Denmark’s parliament has recently adopted a law which will raise it to 70 by 2040, however.
Since 2006, Denmark has tied the official retirement age to life expectancy and has revised it every five years. It is currently 67 but will rise to 68 in 2030 and to 69 in 2035. The retirement age of 70 will apply to all people born after 31 December 1970.
Tommas Jensen, a 47-year-old roofer, told Danish media in May that the change was ‘unreasonable.’
He said: ‘We’re working and working and working, but we can’t keep going.’
The OECD expects Denmark’s retirement age to be 74 by 2060.
The retirement age is currently above 65 in several other countries, including the Netherlands (66.6), Britain and Ireland (both 66), Germany (65.8), and Portugal (65.6).
Other countries with a retirement age of 65 include Austria, Poland, Romania, Hungary, Croatia, Switzerland, Belgium, Italy, Spain, and Cyprus.
Amid riots and protests, in France the minimum retirement age of the main mandatory pension scheme was increased from 62 to 64 and some special pension schemes are being gradually eliminated.
When Turkey is excluded, Greece, Luxembourg, and Slovenia have the lowest retirement age for men and in the EU, at 62.
Women in these countries can also retire at 62. The lowest retirement age for women is in Austria and Poland, where it is 60.
On a global level, the retirement age in Sri Lanka is the lowest, at 55. However, salaries can be low and many need to work beyond the age of 55.
In Indonesia the retirement age is 58, while in Bangladesh and Micronesia it is 59 and 60 respectively. At the other end of the spectrum, the retirement age in Libya is 70.
Turning closer to home again, according to the OECD 2023 analysis, which is its most recent comprehensive pensions report, in 23 countries, men and women retire at the same age, meaning there is no gender gap.
However, in the remaining nine countries assessed, men had a higher retirement age. The largest gaps are in Austria and Poland, where men retire five years later than women. The difference is also three years or more in Romania, Hungary and Turkey.
In the EU overall, the gender gap in the retirement age is 0.9 years, the OECD said.
Joe Dabrowski, Deputy Director of Policy at Pensions UK said: ‘In the UK, people are living longer. This is unquestionably a good thing but it means that unless people work for longer, their money in retirement will need to last longer.
‘In the UK the State Pension is the backbone of retirement saving for most but is amongst the lowest levels in the OECD. In part this is due to the structure of the UK system, which includes strong workplace and private pension provision. This differs across Europe, and in some parts, there is very little private provision.
‘We expect the Government to look at questions of pensions adequacy, including the State Pension, in the second part of its Pension Review.
‘Increases in the State Pension Age fall disproportionately on people with lower incomes who have poorer longevity on average.’
Lisa Picardo, chief business officer UK at PensionBee told This is Money: ‘The UK’s state pension age has changed drastically since 2010 and is almost certainly set to rise further in the coming decades, driven by the twin pressures of longer life expectancy and a shrinking working-age population.
‘While this may seem economically necessary, it’s not always socially equitable.
‘Not everyone has the same health outcomes or life expectancy, and pushing back the state pension age risks penalising those in lower-income or more physically demanding roles.
‘To maintain fairness, any future changes must be accompanied by policies that support flexible work, early access options, and implemented with a lengthy runway to allow for better long-term retirement planning, particularly for younger generations who are already facing significant financial challenges.’
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