Denmark’s Retirement Age Increases to 70

Denmark's capital, Copenhagen. Credit: Pixabay

The Parliament of Denmark recently passed legislation that would gradually raise that country’s retirement age to 70 by the year 2040 and will apply to anyone born after December 31, 1970.

The new law comes as part of a wider push in Europe to raise retirement ages.  

The bill passed in the Danish legislature with 81 votes in favor and 21 against and is one of the most significant changes to state pension age in Europe. It also may herald a broader shift in how developed economies are preparing for aging populations and increasing fiscal pressures.

The move is tied to welfare legislation passed by Denmark in 2006, which linked the pension age eligibility to life expectancy. As people live longer, the government has argued that the retirement age increase was necessary to keep the pension system financially solvent.

After the 2025 vote, Danish Employment Minister Ane Halsboe-Jørgensen said that "In 2040, we will raise the retirement age from 69 to 70 years, among other things, to afford proper welfare for future generations."

She added that this would be the last time that her party, the Social Democrats, would vote for a retirement age increase under the current system, explaining that a fairer model that accounted for differences in career length and job type was necessary.

The country’s largest trade union, the United Federation of Workers in Denmark (3F), has warned that the policy will disproportionately affect lower-income workers, and that according to surveys, 75% of certain workers doubted that they could keep working into their 70s.

Pension changes have become a source of contention across the European Union.

Retirement demonstrations in France, 2023 by Toufik de-Planoise is licensed under CC BY 4.0.

 In 2023, France experienced months of mass protests and strikes after President Emmanuel Macron’s government raised the retirement age from 62 to 64.

Other countries, such as Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, have scheduled retirement age increases to 67 by 2031, 2028 and 2028.

 As life expectancy rates continue to rise and birth rates continue to fall, the need for a sustainable ratio of workers to retirees may require further increases to the retirement age, according to some economists.

The UK International Longevity Centre projected that their country would have to raise the retirement age to 71 by 2050 in order to maintain the ratio of workers to retirees.

In the United States, the retirement age for full Social Security benefits was raised from 65 to 67 in 1983. Waiting until the age of 70 allows enrollees to additionally earn delayed retirement credits.