Retirement thresholds to be reviewed in 2027 – The ominous OECD and Eurostat forecasts

Speaking to ERT, Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Security Panos Tsakloglou admitted that the retirement limits in Greece will be reviewed in 2027.

As Panagiotis Tsakloglou pointed out, “in our legislation, the retirement limit is linked to life expectancy at 65 years. The corresponding limit is reviewed every three years.”

According to him, in the examination carried out in 2024, it was found that the life expectancy at 65 did not increase in Greece due to the pandemic. “The next review will take place in 2027 and until then nothing is going to change at all,” stressed Panagiotis Tsakloglou. However, for this to happen, there should be a relevant actuarial study, which should be evaluated by Social Security experts and a series of data analyzed, such as the country’s demographic problem.

Demographic projections show that in 2050 the general age limit in our country should reach 70.5 years

Regarding when someone can get a pension, Panos Tsaklougu underlined that “to be able to get a pension, someone must have at least 15 years of insurance contributions and be at least 62 years old. If he has 40 years of contributions, the pension is paid without any reduction. If he does not have 40 years of contributions and wants to retire after 62 and before 67, there is a cut equal to 1/240 of the national pension for each month of the difference from the theoretical maximum of 40 years. At 67, someone who meets the 15-year conditions retires without a cut in the national pension.”

Finally, as the deputy minister mentioned, “those who are in the armed forces and the security forces where the limit is at 60, as well as workers in heavy and unhealthy professions, can go on full pension earlier than the age of 62.”

The ominous forecasts of OECD and Eurostat

In its report on the pension systems of its member countries, the OECD, referring to Greece, estimates that perhaps by 2050, due to improvements in life expectancy, the age limit should be increased by 2.8 years.

At the same time, according to Eurostat guidelines (Ageing Report 2024) based on both life expectancy and the amount of pension expenditure, Greece which in the current year 2024 has a general retirement age of 67 and 62 years for early retirement , in 2030 should increase it by one and a half years to 68.5 years and for early retirement by one year and three months, to 63.5 years. In fact, for women, due to the longer life expectancy, it indicates an increase in the age limit in 2030 by one month more, to 68.6 and 63.6 years for early retirement.

Demographic projections show that in 2050 the general age limit in our country should reach 70.5 years and with early retirement at 65.5 years, while in 2070 the age limits should reach 72.5 years and with early retirement at 67.5 years. We note that Greece has the highest retirement age together with France (67 and 62 years after the Macron reform) and Italy (67 and 64 years).

The lowest age limits are in the Czech Republic (63.9 and 60 years), Lithuania (63 and 61 years), Estonia (64.4 and 59.2 years) and Malta (63 and 61 years). Eurostat’s guidelines foresee higher burdens in 2030 for the Netherlands, which must increase the age limits to 67.3 years from 66.6 years today (no conditions for early retirement are foreseen), for Sweden, which must raise them to 67 and 64 years from 65 and 62 years, and for Italy which should reach the age limits of 67.3 and 64.3 years from 67 and 64 years.