Across the European Union, governments are wrestling with the same demographic headache: people are living longer, populations are ageing and pension systems are under increasing pressure. As a result, the legal retirement age has steadily shifted upward across the bloc — but not uniformly. Some countries still allow early exits, others have pushed the age well past 66 and a few even tailor retirement rules according to gender or life expectancy.
Here is a clear look at where each EU member state stands in 2025.
Where retirement age is the lowest
A handful of European countries still offer relatively early retirement — although that generosity often comes with conditions.
In Greece, the statutory age is 62, but only for those who have contributed for 40 years. Fall short of that threshold and retirement is pushed further away.
France also remains among the more flexible countries, with a legal age of 62 years and 6 months in 2025. This is expected to rise gradually to 64, though the reform timetable has been disrupted by a suspension effective until 2028.
Slovakia currently allows retirement at 63 years and 4 months, placing it on the lower end of the European scale.
However, the most striking case is Poland, where retirement rules still differ by gender: women may retire at 60, while men must wait until 65. Organisations advocating for workplace equality, including the European Institute for Gender Equality, have regularly highlighted these discrepancies as outdated, though they remain in force.
When retirement age depends on gender
Poland is not the only EU nation maintaining separate rules for men and women.
In Romania, the legal age is 62 years and 5 months for women and 65 for men.
In Croatia, women may currently retire at 63 years and 9 months, compared with 65 for men. The country plans to unify the system by 2030, bringing both genders to 65.
These gender-based retirement systems have been increasingly scrutinised as Europe moves toward harmonised workplace standards, though many remain tied to historical employment patterns.
Countries where workers retire later
A significant number of EU states now align around the 65-year benchmark, which has long been viewed as a standard reference age. Retirement at 65 applies in:
- Cyprus
- Malta
- Slovenia
- Lithuania
- Latvia
- Estonia
- Finland
Ireland stands slightly above this group, setting its legal retirement age at 66.
Further south, Spain and Portugal also fall in the later-retirement category, with rules set at 66 years and 8 months and 66 years and 7 months, respectively — a reflection of reforms designed to safeguard pension sustainability.
Several of Europe’s largest economies have already pushed the limit higher. Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Italy have all set their retirement age at 67, aligning with wider trends identified by the OECD, which has long warned that early retirement poses a financial risk to public pension systems.
Denmark leads with the highest retirement age
The country with the most ambitious — or daunting, depending on perspective — timetable is Denmark. The legal age is currently 68, but it will rise to 69 for anyone born in 1967 or later. Danish law even anticipates a further increase to 70 starting in 2040, tying retirement to rising life expectancy.
This flexible model is often cited by economists as one of the most forward-looking, though it highlights the social debate around balancing work, longevity and quality of life.
Understanding Europe’s retirement mosaic
From early exits in France and Greece to Denmark’s forward leap toward a 70-year threshold, the EU’s retirement landscape is anything but uniform. These differences reflect not only demography but also political choices, labour structures and cultural expectations about when working life should end.
One thing is clear: as Europe continues to age, the legal retirement age will remain one of the continent’s most closely watched — and frequently contested — social policies.
