The Pensionable Age in the EU

Greece recently came to dominate the headlines as a state that might have to renege on, or at least renegotiate, its debt payments. As a possible consequence, euro area countries whose finances were in better order might end up having to pay for Greece's past profligacy. Headlines screamed that Greeks retired at 53 years of age and there was no way that we are going to pay for that kind of lax and couch potato behavior.  The facts are that, while some Greeks may be able to retire early (with very modest state pensions), the legal pensionable age for Greeks is 65 for men and 60 for women. The average age of the retiring Greek is 61.7 years - very close to that of the average retiring Dutchman (61.5 years). The country with the biggest pension age problem is France. The legal pensionable age for men and women is 60 years - the lowest in the EU (some countries have 60 as retirement age for women but have a higher age for men). President Mitterrand lowered the pensionable age in France from 65 to 60 years back in 1982 - something which the politicians now deeply regret. But try turning that around now. The average Frenchman retires at the ripe old age of 58.8 years. Other countries in the EU where the average retirement age is under 60 are Malta, Slovenia, Slovakia, Poland, Luxembourg (the only one that can probably afford it), Italy, Hungary and Austria.

Source: Observatoire des Retraites  (figures are from 2005).