There have been no Danish self-retirees in the past two years, despite worries that the rising retirement age and the well-developed pension system would make people leave the labour market before state pension age, research by Insurance and Pension Denmark (I&P Denmark) has found.

I&P Denmark pension director, Jan V. Hansen, said that the worries that more and more people would let themselves retire have turned out to be unfounded.

The increase in the state pension age meant the period during which savers can be self-retired was extended. But from 2022 until today, when the state pension age is 67, there has been no further increase.

“Self-retirees make up only 2 per cent of all people aged 60-66, and this has remained stable for the past two years,” Hansen said.  

“The primary reason why the number of self-retirees increased up to 2022 is the simultaneous increase in the state pension age from 65 to 67 years.”

He added that on the whole, the discussion about self-retirement had been “blown out of proportion”.

“In recent years, we have seen a large increase in Danes who choose to work longer than the official retirement age. And this is even often Danes who have significant pension savings that they could retire and live on,” he said.

“In fact, we can see that there are six times more people in work after the state pension age than there are self-retired people below the state pension age.”

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