Finnish savers retired on an earnings-related pension at an average age of 63.1 years in 2024, an increase of 0.3 years from 2023, according to the Finnish Centre for Pensions (ETK).

The target for 2025 has already been reached and passed by more than half a year.

Following the 2005 pension reform, the goal for the expected effective retirement age was set at 62.4 years by 2025, explains Finnish Centre for Pensions development manager, Jari Kannisto.

“The goal was considered ambitious, but it was achieved early on," he said

The increase in the retirement age came to a halt in the mid-2010s. Since then, the main reason for the new growth has been the increase in the retirement age for the old-age pension, which was included in the 2017 pension reform.

In recent years, just under 58,000 people have retired with an earnings-related pension, while nearly 18,000 Finns have retired on a disability pension and 40,000 on an old-age pension.

The partial old-age pension has become a popular form of pension. Last year, 31,000 people over 60 selected it, as most continued working simultaneously.

According to Kannisto, the favourable upward trend in the retirement age will likely continue.

“At the moment, there is no reason to doubt that the current trend will continue. The old-age pension retirement age continues to rise, and the employment rate of the elderly has remained fairly good," he said.

However, the rise in the retirement age has also slightly increased the number of people whose ability to work has declined as they approach their retirement age.

“This is a natural trend, but it will unlikely increase significantly in the next few years. Overall, disability has continued to decline," Kannisto added.

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