As of 2026, the full retirement age for anyone born in the United States in 1960 or later is 67. If that feels like a raw deal, spare a thought for people in Libya, North Africa.
In 2022, Libya raised its official retirement age to 70 for both men and women, the highest in the world. With the World Health Organization placing the country’s average life expectancy at just 72.2 years, only a small minority of citizens will likely live long enough to receive full retirement benefits for a significant amount of time.
As increasing longevity and diminishing birth rates shrink workforces and increase pressure on public finances, more and more countries are pushing retirement ages upwards. According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), what it calls the ‘normal retirement age’ (the age when you become eligible to receive full retirement income without penalty) is set to climb in at least 20 of the 38 OECD member countries. So which countries will be hit hardest?
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Countries with the highest retirement age
Following Libya, the highest normal retirement age for men and women is 67 — the standard in Australia, Denmark, Greece, Iceland, Italy and the Netherlands. In Denmark, the normal retirement age is set to rise to 70 by 2040.
And it may not stop there. The OECD has crunched the numbers to calculate the future retirement age around the world for a 20-year-old man joining the workforce in 2022 and having a full career. Assuming countries continue to apply current retirement laws, by 2066, retirement age could reach 70 in Italy and Sweden, 71 in Estonia and 74 in Denmark.
In the United Kingdom, a similar rise hasn’t been ruled out. Although state pension age for men and women is set to rise to 67 by 2028 and 68 by 2046, a government review of existing retirement policy is expected to make recommendations in 2027, which could mean more changes.
While another rise may be necessary to plug the gap in public finances, it’s likely to be unpopular. Workers’ unions are keen to point out the flaws in raising the normal retirement age across the board, saying it penalizes those with physically demanding roles, such as key workers in health care and education.
Research by the United Kingdom’s largest union, Unite, found “86% of health workers do not believe they can mentally continue to undertake their current roles beyond the age of 66, while 83% of them could not physically continue in their roles beyond the same age.”
And one education professional (who doesn’t wish to be named) told us: “Teaching is an exhausting profession. Not only is it very physically demanding, but it’s mentally exhausting. The amount of concentration it takes to manage and teach a class is unbelievable… I really don’t see how I can physically carry on until 67.”
Finance director Aleksandra Opalinska, 41, from Poland, agrees. “In my opinion, the retirement age in Poland (60 for women, 65 for men) is reasonable,” she says. “People live longer and are often healthy enough to work until that age. However, for people with physically demanding jobs, 65 may be too high. I think it would be good to have some flexibility for them to retire earlier.”
Do retirement ages tell the full story?
So where in the world might workers get a better deal? Sri Lanka currently has the lowest retirement age for both men and women globally, at 55, according to the World Population Review.
The OECD puts the lowest future retirement age for men at 62 in Colombia, Luxembourg and Slovenia, and it could remain at 65 in a swathe of countries as far afield as Poland and New Zealand.
But a basic comparison of retirement ages doesn’t give the full picture. Provisions surrounding retirement are vast and complex. Some countries, including Denmark, have special rules for workers with arduous jobs, enabling them to retire earlier.
And, of course, some carry on working past official retirement age because they need the income, or simply because they enjoy it. Take Alvaro Cardoso, 81, from Mexico, where the current retirement age for men and women is 65. He’s still working part-time as an insurance agent, for financial reasons, but also, he says, because “My job keeps me talking to people.”
Retirement age and income
To get a proper sense of which countries might be better or worse to grow old in, it’s also worth considering where workers are guaranteed a decent income once they reach retirement age, whenever that may be. A useful guide to that is the Mercer CFA Institute Global Pension Index, which analyzes retirement income systems around the world and grades each one A to E, according to:
- adequacy — how much do you get?
- sustainability — can the system keep delivering?
- integrity — can the system be trusted?
At the bottom of the 2025 index are Türkiye, the Philippines, Argentina and India. They get a D-grade for systems with “major weaknesses and/or omissions.”
Poland gets a C for a system with “some good features,” while the United Kingdom and Mexico get a B for soundly structured systems with many good features but still having “some areas for improvement.”
At the top, with an A, are Singapore, Israel, the Netherlands, Iceland and Denmark, for “robust” systems that “deliver good benefits, are sustainable and have a high level of integrity.” That’s good news for the Danes — although they may have to work longer, they’ll be well rewarded at the end of it.
And the United States? Unfortunately, the verdict’s not too reassuring. Its retirement income system has “some good features but also has major risks and/or shortcomings”, and gets a C+.
While the jury’s out on how those will be addressed, it’s still within your power to get a decent retirement. As soon as you can, make a retirement plan and review it often, start saving to take advantage of the power of compounding, and be realistic about health care costs in your (potentially very) old age.
