According to the study, QR Code Generator analysed OECD data concerning retirement age, in all countries, from 2000 to 2020, to understand which countries had registered the highest increase.

According to a press release, “Portugal has experienced the eighth-highest increase in its retirement age, with a score of 7.92%. In 2000, the country’s average retirement age was 59.35, rising to 64 as of 2020.” The second country with the highest increase is Estonia (+11,93%). Back in 2000, the retirement age in the country was 58, now it is set at 65.

Latvia closes the top 3 with a 10.57% increase, going from 59 years old to 65. Following Latvia is New Zealand, the only non-European country in the top 10 (+9.84%), with the highest retirement age on the list, 67 years old, due to the highest life expectancy as well (82).

Lithuania closes the top 10, with an increase of 7.57%. In 2000, workers would be retired, on average, when 58.75 years old; however, in 2020 it increased to 63 years old.

Quoted in the press release, Marc Porcar, CEO of QR Code Generated, stated that “it’s fascinating to observe how the upward shift in retirement age differs on a regional scale. The upward trend over the past 20 years can be due to a number of factors, mainly due to the increase in life expectancy and an increase in aging populations.

“The cost-of-living crisis has also been responsible for raising the average retirement age on a global scale. This is because increasing economic pressures have created a financial environment in which many people can no longer afford to retire.

“Rising inflation rates and insufficient retirement savings are making it significantly challenging for people to be able to comfortably retire - something that is evidently reflected in this data.”