According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which Euronews has studied, Denmark has already decided to raise the retirement age to 70 by 2040, and in 2060 people in that country will only be able to become pensioners after 74 years of life.
However, raising the retirement age doesn’t mean that older people in European countries don’t have time to enjoy retiree status. As noted in the study, across Europe there is an increase in both the life expectancy of citizens and the number of years spent in retirement.
However, this puts a serious strain on the pension system of European countries. It is believed that after retirement pensioners should receive at least 60% of their earnings at the end of their career. But already today in many European countries this figure falls below 50%, making it increasingly difficult for pensioners to maintain a decent standard of living.
This is what is driving the pension cap upwards. As of 2022, the set retirement age for men in EU countries ranged from 62 to 67 for men and 60 to 67 for women. If we consider the UK, EFTA (European Free Trade Association) countries and Turkey, which is a candidate member of the EU, Turkey stands out among them. In this country, the retirement age is only 49 for women and 52 for men.
But Turkey will have to raise the retirement age the most by 2060, according to the OECD – by 13 years for men and 14 years for women. In Denmark, Estonia, Slovakia, Slovakia, Italy, Sweden, Cyprus and Denmark, the retirement age will increase by 5 years or more.
