Luxembourg workers face shorter careers than EU peers at just 35.6 years

As Luxembourg mulls a reform of its pension system, data from Eurostat published on Thursday shows that employees in the country are expected to spend an average of 35.6 years working before retirement – below the 40 years required to receive a full pension and the EU’s average.

People in the European Union can now expect to spend an average of 37.2 years in the workforce, according to the figures. That’s 2.4 years more than a decade ago, with women seeing slightly bigger gains than men over the same period.

Luxembourg comes in below the EU average, at 35.6 years, up from 33.2 years in 2014. The Grand Duchy lags behind neighbours France (37.2) and Germany (40).

Workers in Luxembourg must pay pension contributions for 40 years to receive full retirement benefits. The actual number of years worked, however, can be less, as time spent in higher education or out of work to have children is counted towards the 40 years. People can also retire early under some circumstances.

The Eurostat data measures the expected length of working life for someone aged 15 today, based on current patterns of labour force participation, unemployment and retirement.

Six EU countries have now crossed the 40-year mark – the Netherlands leads with 43.8 years, followed by Sweden (43.0), Denmark (42.5), Estonia (41.4), Ireland (40.4), and Germany (40.0). These countries tend to combine high employment rates with later retirement ages and strong female participation in the labour market.

By contrast, Romania (32.7 years), Italy (32.8), Greece, Bulgaria and Croatia (each 34.8) report some of the shortest expected working lives in the bloc, revealing an 11-year gap between EU extremes.

Across the bloc, men are expected to work 39.2 years on average, while women are projected to work 35.0 years. However, the EU gender gap has narrowed over the past decade, falling from 5.1 years in 2014 to 4.2 years in 2024.

Eurostat notes that these figures are shaped by a combination of policy choices, labour market participation, and demographic pressures, with major implications for national pension systems and economic planning.

The government, labour unions and employers are embroiled in talks over a planned pension reform. While Luxembourg’s retirement age is 65, people can stop working much earlier under the 40-year contribution rules. Prime Minister Luc Frieden during his state of the nation speech had said he wants to move the real retirement age closer to 65 by extending the amount of time during which people have to pay into the system to reach 43 years.

That plan would delay Luxembourg’s pension pot from running dry by five years, from 2045 to 2050, according to estimates by the General Inspectorate of Social Security (IGSS).

Talks are due to resume in September. Social Security Minister Martine Deprez in July was due to present the full details of the pension reform. No new date for the unveiling has been set.