Romania, Penultimate Spot in the EU for Labor Force Occupation Rate for People Over 50 Years Old
Highlights
*10.2% of people who receive an old-age pension were employed in the EU in 2023.
*The average retirement age in the EU was 61.3 years, ranging from 58.3 years in Slovenia to 65.7 years in Denmark.
*13.0% of people continued to work after receiving their first old-age pension.
The data revealed by Eurostat showed that Croatia and Romania had the lowest employment rates among people aged 50-74, with less than 40% of individuals in this age group employed. Among the 60-74 age group, Luxembourg and Romania had the lowest employment rates, with less than 15% of people employed.
Estonia had the highest employment rate and the largest share of persons employed and receiving an old-age pension in both age groups. In addition to Estonia, Latvia and Sweden also had relatively high shares of employed people receiving pensions in both age groups. The employment rate was also highest in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania among the 60-74 age group.
In contrast, some countries had very low shares of employed people with pensions, indicating that receiving a pension often marks the end of working life in these countries. In Spain, Greece and Romania, the share of employed people with pensions was less than 1% among people aged 50-74, and less than 1.5% among people aged 60-74. This suggests that in these countries, pensioners tend to stop working and fully retire, rather than continuing to work in some capacity.
The average age of receipt of the first old age pension may differ from the statutory pension ages due to early retirement, flexible pension age and the pension reforms, or because the respondent of the survey retired up to 15 years ago. The average age at retirement was equal to or over 64 years in Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden (Map 1). The lowest ages at retirement, below 60 years, were reported in Slovenia, Greece, Romania and Austria.
In 2012, 18 EU countries had an average age at retirement of below 60 years. However, by 2023, this number had decreased to only 4 countries, indicating a broader trend towards later retirement across the EU.
The share of people who continued to work varied significantly across countries, ranging from less than 2% in Romania to over 50% in Estonia. A clear geographical pattern emerged, with more than a third of people continuing to work in Baltic and Nordic countries. However, there are differences in working conditions between these regions. In Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, people mainly continued to work in the same job without changes, whereas in Sweden and Finland, more than half of people changed their working conditions after receiving their old-age pension.
Conversely, less than 5% of people continued to work in Romania, Greece and Spain, with more than half of these people making changes to their work arrangements. Finally, we should be aware of the situation in our neighbouring countries, where the percentages are substantially elevated, 16.7% in Bulgaria and 19.9% in Hungary.
Key findings
*The transition from work to retirement between 2012 and 2023 has shifted to approximately 5 years later, indicating that individuals are leaving the labour market at an older age. The share of employed people with pensions remained relatively low across all age groups in both 2012 and 2023. The shift towards later retirement is mainly due to the increase in the eligible pension age.
*In 2023, almost half (45.1%) of people aged 50-74 in the EU received some form of pension, of which 39.7% received only an old-age pension, 4.6% received only a disability pension or other periodic disability benefits, while 0.8% received both types of pensions.
*The average age at retirement was 61.3 years in 2023, 2.1 years higher than in 2012. Around two thirds of pensioners retired between the ages of 60 and 65. In 11 EU countries, the prevalent reason for continuing to work was financial necessity, and in 14 countries, people enjoyed working or being productive.
*Most people stopped working (64.7%) or did not work (22.4%) within 6 months following the receipt of their first old-age pension. In Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Sweden, the proportion of pensioners who continued to work was over 40%.
Photo source: PxHere.com.
