Rising Retirement Ages and Working-Life Expectations in the European Union

Several European governments are extending statutory retirement ages to match longer life expectancy. France’s parliament approved a reform that would raise the retirement age from 62 to 64; the National Assembly later voted in 2025 to postpone implementation until after the 2028 presidential election. Romania plans to increase the women’s retirement age from 63 to 65 by 2035, aligning it with the men’s threshold, while also lifting the retirement age for judges and prosecutors to 65. Denmark’s parliament has passed legislation to raise the state pension age to 70 by 2040. These measures are part of broader pension reforms aimed at sustaining social-security systems.

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Eurostat’s indicator for the expected average working life of 15-year-olds in the EU reached 37.5 years in 2025, up from 37.2 years in 2024 and 35.2 years in 2016. The data reveal a pronounced north-south divide. In seven countries, workers are projected to remain employed for 40 years or more: the Netherlands (44 years), Sweden (43.3), Denmark (42.6), Estonia (41.5), Ireland (40.7), Germany (40.2) and Finland (40.1). At the opposite end, Romania (32.7), Italy and Bulgaria (34.6) have the shortest expected working lives.

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Eurostat also reports a gender gap. Men are expected to work an average of 39.5 years, roughly four years longer than women’s 35.4 years. The longest male working lives occur in the Netherlands (45.9), Sweden and Denmark (both 44.5) and Ireland (43.4). The shortest male spans are in Bulgaria (35.9), Romania (36.0) and Croatia (36.3). Among women, the longest expected durations are in Sweden (42.3), the Netherlands (41.9) and Estonia (41.8); the shortest are in Italy (28.4), Romania (29.1) and Greece (31.8).

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Eurostat notes that the figures do not reflect legal retirement ages or policy targets but rather observed labour-market participation. Nonetheless, European nations face demographic challenges: rising life expectancy and declining birth rates increase pressure on pension and healthcare systems. Governments are therefore turning to unpopular policies such as higher retirement ages, reduced early-retirement options and higher pension contributions.

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The combination of extended statutory retirement ages and longer expected working lives suggests that many EU workers will spend a greater portion of their adult years in the labour market. While this may alleviate some fiscal strain, the gender gap and regional disparities indicate uneven impacts across the Union. Future adjustments to pension systems will likely continue to provoke public debate, as seen in France’s 2023 protests, and will need to balance fiscal sustainability with social acceptance.

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