When do people in OECD countries typically retire?

Workers across the 38 Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) member states are retiring later. In 2000, the average retirement age for men was 61.8 years and 59.7 years for women, and in 2024, it reached 64.7 years for men and 63.6 years for women. Retirement age varies greatly across the OECD, driven by market dynamics, pubic policy, among other factors. Across the OECD, retirement ages ranged from 54.1 to 69 for men and 53 to 67.4 for women in 2024.

Who works the longest and who retires the earliest?

Across the OECD, in all but seven countries, men stayed in the workforce later than women. The gap is greatest in Colombia, with men retiring about 6 years later than women. Meanwhile, men and women retire at about the same age in Lithuania and New Zealand. Comparing 2024 data, women in South Korea tended to leave the workforce later than their OECD peers, while men in Chile retired the latest. At the other end of the spectrum, men and women in Luxembourg stay in the workforce the least, retiring at average ages of 60.1 and 60.3 years, respectively.

Comparatively, Canada is pretty average. In 2024, the average age of men entering retirement was 65.2 years, placing it near the middle of the pack. Meanwhile, the average retirement age of women was 63.2 years, placing it 21st among OECD members.

Data for this article comes from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Pension at a Glance 2025.