According to the statistics of the Finnish Centre for Pensions, people in Finland retired on an old-age pension at age 61.5 years on average in 2019. This is about one month later than in 2018. A total of 44,500 persons retired on an old-age pension. This is 10 per cent less than in 2018.

1. Effective Retirement Age
in 2019
www.etk.fi/statistics | Effective Retirement Age

2. Content
2
• Number of new retirees on an earnings-related pension
• Development of effective retirement age
• Employment
• Expected length of working life
27 Feb 2020FINNISH CENTRE FOR PENSIONS | Effective Retirement Age

3. Drive to postpone retirement monitored
by means of
3
• Expected effective retirement age:
– corresponds in principle to life expectancy,
– describes average effective retirement age if retirement and
mortality rates remain unchanged at the level of the statistical
year, and
– is unaffected by demographic age structure.
• Employment rate of older people
• Expected length of working life:
– depicts the number of years that a person at a certain age can be
expected to be in an employment relationship or work as a self-
employed person during their remaining life span, and
– based on a method that uses cross-sectional data on mortality risk
rates, labour force participation rates and employment rates.
FINNISH CENTRE FOR PENSIONS | Effective Retirement Age 27 Feb 2020

4. Effective retirement age in 2019 (1/2)
4
• Expected effective retirement age
– 61.5 years (for 25-year-olds)
– 63.4 years (for 50-year-olds)
• Clear rise in effective retirement age
– 25-year-old’s expected effective retirement age was up 0.2 years
from the year before
– 50-year-old’s expected effective retirement age was up 0.3 years
from the year before
FINNISH CENTRE FOR PENSIONS | Effective Retirement Age 27 Feb 2020

5. Effective retirement age in 2019 (2/2)
5
• Retirement rate declined especially among 63-year-olds
– Persons born in 1955 are the first age group whose retirement age
was raised in connection with the 2017 pension reform. Their
retirement age is now 63 years 3 months. For those born in 1956,
the retirement age is 63 years and 6 months.
• Number of new retirees on an old-age pension declined
clearly while the number of new retirees on a disability
pension rose slightly
FINNISH CENTRE FOR PENSIONS | Effective Retirement Age 27 Feb 2020

6. New retirees on an earnings-related pension
2006–2019, by pension benefit
627 Feb 2020FINNISH CENTRE FOR PENSIONS | Effective Retirement Age
0
10 000
20 000
30 000
40 000
50 000
60 000
70 000
80 000
90 000
2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018
Persons
64,940 persons retired on an earnings-related pension in 2019
68,910 persons retired on an earnings-related pension in 2018
* The number of new retirees does not include people who retired on a part-time pension or a partial old-age pension.
Partial
old-age
pension*
Part-time
pension*
Special
pension
for farmers
Unemployment
Pension
Disability
Pension
Old-age
pension

7. New retirees on an earnings-related pension,
by age
7FINNISH CENTRE FOR PENSIONS | Effective Retirement Age
0
5 000
10 000
15 000
20 000
25 000
-54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69-
Persons
Age at retirement
2018 2019
27 Feb 2020

8. New retirees on an earnings-related pension,
by age
8FINNISH CENTRE FOR PENSIONS | Effective Retirement Age
0
5 000
10 000
15 000
20 000
25 000
-54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69-
Persons
Age at retirement
2005 2012 2019
27 Feb 2020

9. New retirees on an earnings-related disability
pension in 2018 and 2019
927 Feb 2020FINNISH CENTRE FOR PENSIONS | Effective Retirement Age
0
200
400
600
800
1 000
1 200
1 400
1 600
1 800
2 000
18 21 24 27 30 33 36 39 42 45 48 51 54 57 60 63
Persons
Age at retirement
2018 2019

10. Expected effective retirement age,
all new retirees on an earnings-related pension
1027 Feb 2020FINNISH CENTRE FOR PENSIONS | Effective Retirement Age
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018
25-year-olds
50-year-olds
Expected effective
retirement age

11. New retirees on an earnings-related pension
as a proportion of all insured persons,
25–49-year-olds
1127 Feb 2020FINNISH CENTRE FOR PENSIONS | Effective Retirement Age
0,0
0,1
0,2
0,3
0,4
0,5
0,6
0,7
25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49
%
Age at end of statistical year
2017 2018 2019

12. New retirees on an earnings-related pension
as a proportion of all insured persons,
50–69-year-olds
1227 Feb 2020FINNISH CENTRE FOR PENSIONS | Effective Retirement Age
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
55
60
50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69
%
Age at end of statistical year
2017 2018 2019

13. Changes to retirement on an earnings-related
pension
13FINNISH CENTRE FOR PENSIONS | Effective Retirement Age
• Number of persons retiring on an earnings-related pension
was 64,940 in 2019, down by 4,000 from 2018 and
10,000 from 2017
• Number of persons retiring on an old-age pension fell by
4,400
– 9% drop from 2018: largest drop among the 62-year-olds (-1,900)
and the 63-year-olds (-2,800); increase among the 64-year-olds
(+900)
– 44,500 persons retired on an old-age pension
– 71% of all new retirees retired on an old-age pension
27 Feb 2020

14. Retirement on an earnings-related pension:
some changes
14FINNISH CENTRE FOR PENSIONS | Effective Retirement Age
• Number of new retirees on a disability pension up by 2%
from the year before
– 20,300 new retirees on a disability pension
– Almost 30% of new disability pensions started as partial pensions
• Minor changes in retirement rates
– Women’s rates higher than men’s in younger age groups and
among those over 63
• 12,300 persons took out a partial old-age pension in 2019
27 Feb 2020

15. 1527 Feb 2020FINNISH CENTRE FOR PENSIONS | Effective Retirement Age
Expected effective retirement age:
Aim and realisation
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022 2024 2026
To achieve the goal at an even pace, the effective retirement age needs to rise each year by 0.15 years.
Expectancy for
a 25-year-olds
Aim for 2025:
62.4 years
Expected effective retirement age

16. Outlook (1/2)
• The 2005 pension reform has clearly increased the
effective retirement age
• The 2017 pension reform will further push up effective
retirement age
– Raising the old-age retirement age reduced the number of new
retirees on an old-age pension particularly in 2018,
– The number of new retirees declined also in 2019,
– The number of new retirees on a disability pension rose slightly,
– The overall number of new retirees has declined significantly.
• Future trends will depend on changes in behaviour
– Intended retirement ages have risen
– Retirement decisions influenced by multiple factors
16FINNISH CENTRE FOR PENSIONS | Effective Retirement Age 27 Feb 2020

17. Outlook (2/2)
17
• Future trends will depend on economic outlook and
changes in working life
• In 2020, the number of new retirees is expected to
decline from that in 2019 (to an estimated 63,000
persons)
FINNISH CENTRE FOR PENSIONS | Effective Retirement Age 27 Feb 2020

18. 1827 Feb 2020FINNISH CENTRE FOR PENSIONS | Effective Retirement Age
Employment rates for the working-age population
(15–64 years), younger people (25-34 years) and
older people (55-64 years) in 2007–2019
0,0
10,0
20,0
30,0
40,0
50,0
60,0
70,0
80,0
90,0
2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 2019
%
15–64-year-olds 25–34-year-olds 55–64-year-olds
Source: Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Labour force survey, Statistics Finland

19. 1927 Feb 2020FINNISH CENTRE FOR PENSIONS | Effective Retirement Age
Employment rates for persons aged 55–59
and 60–64 in 2007–2019
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 2019 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 2019
%
Source: Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Labour force survey, Statistics Finland
Employment rates in 2019: 55–59-year-olds 79.1% and 60–64-year-olds 54.2%
Employment rates in 2018: 55–59-year-olds 79.1% and 60–64-year-olds 51.7%
55–59-year-olds 60–64-year-olds

20. 2027 Feb 2020FINNISH CENTRE FOR PENSIONS | Effective Retirement Age
Employment rates for persons aged 55–67
0,0
10,0
20,0
30,0
40,0
50,0
60,0
70,0
80,0
90,0
55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67
%
2002 2007 2012 2017 2019
Source: Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Labour force survey, Statistics Finland

21. 2127 Feb 2020FINNISH CENTRE FOR PENSIONS | Effective Retirement Age
Unemployment rates for persons aged 55–59
and 60–64 in 2007–2019
0,0
1,0
2,0
3,0
4,0
5,0
6,0
7,0
8,0
9,0
10,0
07 09 11 13 15 17 19 07 09 11 13 15 17 19
%
Source: Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Labour force survey, Statistics Finland
Unemployment rates in 2019: 55–59-year-olds 6.3% and 60–64-year-olds 7.1%
Unemployment rates in 2018: 55–59-year-olds 6.0% and 60–64-year-olds 8.2%
55–59-year-olds 60–64-year-olds

22. 2227 Feb 2020FINNISH CENTRE FOR PENSIONS | Effective Retirement Age
Average employment rates of 55–64-year-olds
in Nordic and EU countries in 2009–2018
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
%
Iceland
Sweden
Norway
Denmark
Finland
EU 15
EU 28
Source: Eurostat, Employment, Labour force surveys

23. Age group differences relative to employment
trends among older people aged 55–64 (1/2)
23
• Employment rate improved in 2019 and was at its highest
since 1990
– employment rate for working-age population 72.6% in 2019 (up by
0.9 percentage points since 2018)
– older people’s employment has developed favourably in the 2000s
– employment rate in age group 55–59 stopped at statistical record-
high of 79.1%
– employment rate in age group 60–64 rose steeply in 2019 and
reached statistical record-high levels (54.2%, up by 2.5 percentage
points since 2018)
– employment rate in age group 25–34 fell by 6.3 percentage points in
2009–2016, but following turnaround in 2017 reached 78.1% in
2019, up by 1.3 percentage points since 2018 - but still 3 percentage
points lower than the 2008 record of 81.1%
FINNISH CENTRE FOR PENSIONS | Effective Retirement Age 27 Feb 2020

24. Age group differences relative to employment
trends among older people aged 55–64 (2/2)
• Employment rates for older people in Finland remain lower
than in other Nordic countries in 2018
– Second lowest Nordic figure recorded for Denmark, which is more
than 5 percentage points ahead of Finland (gap closing in slightly in
2019)
– EU15 countries lagging behind Finland by 5.1 percentage points
24FINNISH CENTRE FOR PENSIONS | Effective Retirement Age 27 Feb 2020

25. 2527 Feb 2020FINNISH CENTRE FOR PENSIONS | Effective Retirement Age
Expected length of working life for a 15-year-old
2007–2019
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 2019
Years
Expected labour force participation
Working life expectancy
Calculation, source: Official Statistics of Finland (OSF), Labour force survey, Statistics Finland

26. 2627 Feb 2020FINNISH CENTRE FOR PENSIONS | Effective Retirement Age
Working life expectancy for a 15-year-old
2007–2019
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 2019
Years
Males Females
Calculation, source: Official Statistics of Finland (OSF), Labour force survey, Statistics Finland

27. Length of working life in 2019
• Expected labour force participation in 2019 was 38.7 years
– increase of 0.3 years from previous year
– increase of 3.7 years in the 2000s
– increase for men 3.4 years in the 2000s
– increase for women 3.9 years in the 2000s
• Working life expectancy in 2019 was 36.0 years
– increase of 0.5 years from previous year
– increase of 4.5 years in the 2000s
– 36.2 years for men (up by 3.8 years in 2000s)
– 35.8 years for women (up by 5.2 years in 2000s)
27FINNISH CENTRE FOR PENSIONS | Effective Retirement Age 27 Feb 2020