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Which countries have raised their retirement age from 65 to 67 and why?
Executive summary
Multiple countries have already set or effectively use a pension age of 67 — commonly cited examples include Iceland, Israel and Norway — and several more (Canada, Germany, Belgium, Spain, the UK and others) are moving their statutory pension ages toward 67 as part of gradual, indexed reforms aimed at keeping pension systems solvent amid population ageing [1] [2] [3] [4]. Available sources show two main rationales: rising life expectancy and fiscal pressure on pay‑as‑you‑go pension systems, plus automatic indexing in some countries that ties future increases to longevity [5] [3] [6].
1. Where 67 is already the statutory or commonly reported pension age — who, concretely
Several data compilations list Iceland, Israel and Norway among the countries whose statutory retirement (or “current” official) age is 67 [1] [2]. Other country profiles and rankings list Italy and the Netherlands at or near 67 for state pensions, and show the United States’ full retirement age reaching 67 for people born after 1959 [5] [7]. Statista and Visual Capitalist also identify 67 as one of the highest official ages among a broad group of countries [1] [2].
2. Countries explicitly moving from 65 to 67 (or to similar increases)
Reporting shows several governments have legislated gradual rises that end up at or beyond 67. Germany, for example, is scheduled to raise its pension age to 67 by 2031 [4]. The UK has legislated increases that bring the state pension age to 67 by 2028 and later to 68 in the 2040s; commentators group the UK among countries raising retirement ages toward 67 [8] [3]. News summaries list Spain and others on timetables that push statutory ages up toward 66–67 in the 2020s [9] [6]. Canada is reported as removing the fixed age‑65 benchmark and changing pension rules — descriptions vary, but sources say Canada will move away from the classic 65 cutoff [4] [10]. Note: not every source lists identical country sets or identical timetables; cross‑country comparisons vary by the metrics used (statutory age vs. effective retirement age) [2] [3].
3. Why governments are increasing pension ages — two central drivers
The explicit reasons given in the coverage are (a) demographic change — longer life expectancy means more years in retirement — and (b) fiscal sustainability — pay‑as‑you‑go pension systems face higher costs as the ratio of retirees to workers rises. WorldPopulationReview and Euronews both cite longer lifespans and system sustainability as motivations for raising the pension age [5] [3]. Haines Global Pensions and other trend pieces describe automatic indexing rules that link pension age to cohort life expectancy, making increases a response to longevity rather than a one‑off political decision [6].
4. How countries implement increases — phased rises and indexing
Countries use different mechanisms: phased increases over years (e.g., Germany to 67 by 2031; UK to 67 by 2028), automatic indexing to life expectancy (Netherlands, Italy and Sweden employ longevity‑linking in various forms), and cohort rules that apply different ages depending on birth year (United States’ full retirement age schedule) [4] [7] [6] [3]. Reporting emphasizes that “statutory” age (the law) can differ from “effective” retirement age (what people actually do), and visuals point out effective ages are often lower than statutory ages [2] [11].
5. Disagreements, limitations and political pushback
Sources note variation and political contestation: Euronews and other outlets list future planned increases (Belgium, Denmark, UK) with different end dates, and these timetables are sometimes contested domestically [3]. Some reporting highlights that reforms use different definitions (minimum age, full pension age, early‑retirement windows), which complicates direct country‑to‑country comparisons [7] [2]. Available sources do not mention specific protests, party‑level disputes, or every country’s legislative votes on these reforms; those details are not found in current reporting provided here (not found in current reporting).
6. What to watch next
Most sources project further rises, with automatic indexing likely to push many statutory ages above 67 over coming decades [6] [11]. Analysts and governments differ on pace and fairness; countries with indexing tie future increases to longevity [6], while some governments choose politically phased hikes [3]. When comparing claims about “who raised 65 to 67,” verify whether a source means the current statutory age, a scheduled change, or an effective/average retirement age — the datasets in these reports use different definitions and timelines [2] [7].
If you want, I can assemble a concise table showing: (a) countries explicitly at 67 today per these sources, (b) countries legally scheduled to reach 67 and the year given in reporting, and (c) the cited reason or mechanism behind each change, with direct source citations.