Denmark Approves Plan to Raise Retirement Age to 70 by 2040 – Highest in Europe
Denmark is set to implement the highest retirement age in Europe following the passage of new legislation that will increase the official retirement age to 70 by the year 2040.
Under the new law, which was approved by the Danish parliament on Thursday with 81 votes in favour and 21 against, the revised retirement age will apply to individuals born after December 31, 1970. This move continues Denmark’s longstanding practice of linking retirement age to life expectancy—a policy in place since 2006 and reviewed every five years.
Currently, Danes retire at 67. That threshold will rise to 68 in 2030 and 69 in 2035 before reaching 70 in 2040.
Despite the law’s approval, debate around the policy continues. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen previously suggested the automatic linkage between life expectancy and retirement age might need reconsideration. “We no longer believe that the retirement age should be increased automatically,” she said last year, expressing concern that the policy may not reflect the realities of all workers. “You can’t just keep saying that people have to work a year longer.”
Critics of the increase have voiced concern about the policy’s impact on manual labourers and those in physically demanding jobs. Tommas Jensen, a 47-year-old roofer, told local media outlet DK that the shift was “unreasonable.”
“We’re working and working and working, but we can’t keep going,” he said, stressing that the policy may be more suitable for office workers than for blue-collar professionals like himself. “I’ve paid my taxes all my life. There should also be time to be with children and grandchildren.”
The measure places Denmark at the forefront of Europe’s pension reform efforts as ageing populations and stretched public finances push governments across the continent to reconsider how long people work before retiring.
