Economy

Americans Have the 29th Longest Retirement in the World

Douglas A. McIntyre

Published: August 10, 2021 10:30 am

Last Updated: September 10, 2021 2:04 pm

Americans live to be about 78 years old, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) statistics. The number has come down recently because of COVID-19. In a number of developed nations, people live much longer. These include Japan (85 years), Italy (84 years) and Spain (84 years). While Americans do not live very long by developed nation standards, they also do not stay retired for long.

Compare The Market, an insurance website, looked at countries based on average retirement. Their “expected years of retirement” figures are based on the age at which people are retiring now. The country with the most years was France at almost 25, followed by Spain and Greece with 24 years or more.

Of the 36 countries measured, the United States ranked 29th with a little over 18 years, just behind Japan and just ahead of New Zealand. The country with the fewest retirement years was South Korea.

Data was pulled from Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) figures.

These are the average number of years of retirement in 36 countries:

• France: 24.80
• Spain: 24.15
• Greece: 24.10
• Luxembourg: 23.65
• Belgium: 23.30
• Italy: 23.20
• Slovenia: 22.30
• Austria: 22.15
• Australia: 21.55
• Finland: 21.30
• Poland: 21.05
• Netherlands: 21.00
• Canada: 20.95
• Germany: 20.80
• Switzerland: 20.70
• Slovakia: 20.60
• United Kingdom: 20.55
• Republic of Ireland: 20.45
• Czech Republic: 20.25
• Denmark: 20.25
• Norway: 20.25
• Sweden: 19.65
• Hungary: 19.40
• Iceland: 18.85
• Portugal: 18.65
• Lithuania: 18.60
• Israel: 18.45
• Japan: 18.25
• United States: 18.10
• New Zealand: 18.05
• Estonia: 17.75
• Turkey: 17.55
• Chile: 17.20
• Latvia: 16.80
• Mexico: 15.15
• South Korea: 14.60

Click here to see which are the best and worst states for retirees.