Where in the EU can people expect the longest working life?

euronews (in English)

Where in the EU can people expect the longest working life?  From the Netherlands to Romania, expected working lives vary dramatically across the EU. Here's how every country compares.  READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2026/07/21/where-in-the-eu-can-people-expect-the-longest-working-life  Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages

Transcript

00:00Where in the EU will you spend the most years working?

00:07The average expected duration of a European's working life is increasing every year,

00:13and it has done so for at least a decade.

00:16According to the most recent Eurostat data,

00:19the length of the average working life for people aged 15 and over in the EU

00:24reached 37.5 years in 2025.

00:28That's up from 37.2 years in 2024, and up from 35.2 years since 2016.

00:36But there are significant differences across EU countries,

00:40and there appears to be a north-south divide.

00:43In seven EU countries, workers are expected to stay in a job for 40 years or more.

00:49This is the case in the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Estonia, Ireland, Germany and Finland.

00:57At the other end of the table, Romania, Italy and Bulgaria have the shortest working lives on average.

01:05There's also a noticeable gender gap among EU citizens,

01:08with men expected to work on average around four more years than women.

01:13Men in the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and Ireland have the longest working lives,

01:19while women in Italy, Romania and Greece have the shortest.

Category

Transcript

Comments

Recommended