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Denmark will soon be tied with Libya to have the highest official retirement age—meaning the age when a person can access their full government pension or social security check—in the world.
Libya’s current official retirement age is 70. And, following a law passed this spring, Denmark will soon follow suit, raising the age for those born after Dec. 31, 1970, to claim full pension benefits to 70 years, up from 67. The change will be implemented gradually through 2040.
Key Takeaways
- Denmark will soon be tied with Libya as having the highest official retirement age, at 70 years old.
- Other countries with high retirement ages include Australia, Greece, Iceland, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and the United States.
- Countries with low official retirement ages often have high effective retirement ages, meaning people tend to work until their mid-60s regardless of where they live.
- While the United States will avoid a raise in the retirement age this year, from 67 years old, the Republican Party has continually proposed this during budget talks.
Even before the law was passed, Denmark was tied with the likes of Australia, Greece, Iceland, Israel, Italy, and the Netherlands for the second-highest retirement age. The United States followed in third place, with an official retirement age of 66.7 years old, and Spain in fourth place with 66.5 years.
When to Stop Working
There are a few reasons why retirement ages are increasing worldwide. First, longer life expectancies are straining pension systems.
This was the key driver behind Denmark’s raising of the retirement age, with the country tying its official retirement age to life expectancy since 2006. That is subject to change, though, after this final hike.
“We no longer believe that the retirement age should be increased automatically,” Social Democrat Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said. “[Our party] can’t just keep saying that people have to work a year longer.”
Second, aging populations due to declining fertility rates have meant that fewer young workers are supporting more and more retirees, risking the longevity of pension systems.
And finally, fiscal pressure from unbalanced budgets and inflation has forced governments to rein in spending on public pension systems by raising the age of retirement to contain costs.
Legal vs. Effective Retirement Age
Nominally, these retirement ages are high compared to countries like India, Indonesia, and Turkey, which all have retirement ages set in the 50s. Saudi Arabia has the lowest retirement age in the world, with some workers being able to access their full pension benefits by 47.
Few people in these countries, though, actually stop working so young. In reality, these countries’ effective retirement ages, or the average age when people tend to stop working, all lie in the mid- to late 60s.
“There is no mandatory retirement age,” says Doug Carey, CFA, the founder and president of WealthTrace, a software provider for retirement planners. “Many people continue working well into their 70s [despite official retirement ages].”
The Case for the United States
The effective retirement age in the United States is actually much younger than the legal retirement age. If you want to access your Social Security benefits in the U.S., you’ll have to wait until you’re 67 if you were born after 1960. Those born in the years 1943 to 1954 were able to access their benefits by 66. However, according to MassMutual, most people in the U.S. tend to retire by 62.
Despite Americans’ obvious preference for earlier retirement, there have been ongoing efforts to raise the retirement age by the Republican Party. For example, last year, the Republican Study Committee—a group that includes roughly 80% of all Republican lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives, as well as the entirety of House Republican leadership—suggested that the Social Security Administration should raise the full retirement age to 69 by 2033.
This proposal did not make its way into the 2026 budget reconciliation bill, frequently dubbed the “Big Beautiful Bill,” though reforms are not off the table in the near future. The Social Security Board of Trustees recently reported that the program expects to run out of money a year sooner than previously reported, in 2034.
The Bottom Line
At the end of the day, retirement ages are likely to keep going up, not down.
“Retirement ages are increasing worldwide,” says Carey. “Most people need to start planning for a longer work life.”
To do so, Carey recommends people maximize their retirement contributions, delay their Social Security or pension benefits for as long as possible, and budget for a longer life.
“Don’t assume you will pass away at your life expectancy. Most people should assume they will live to at least 90. Have a financial plan built for you and add in healthcare inflation and potential long-term care costs,” he says.
