Berlin will raise the retirement age of Germans from 65 to 73 years

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz advocates a gradual increase in the retirement age from 65 to 73 years. Already more than a million pensioners in Germany prefer to work because of insufficient income.

Merz's statement was the result of the forecasts of a group of experts convened for this purpose by the German Ministry of Finance itself. They took into account both the aging of the population (an increase in life expectancy) and, indirectly, the growth in the number of pensioners, as well as the stagnation of the economy, which Germany has been facing for several years. This year, pension payments have reached almost a quarter of the federal budget.

In order to avoid social unrest, which, for example, causes similar reforms in France, Merz wants not only a long and gradual increase in the retirement age, but also the possibility of its adaptation as life expectancy increases. Thus, in order to increase the retirement age from 65 to 73 in 35 years, it would have to be increased by three months every year. However, the issue of raising the retirement age is being actively discussed by the far-right Alternative for Germany party.

Since taking office, Friedrich Merz has repeatedly warned the Germans that the economy will not be able to maintain a four-day working week, while providing the same level of social protection as now. Denmark currently has the highest retirement age in Europe, which will reach 70 by 2040.

France, Italy and the UK are also reviewing the retirement age in response to the aging of the population. Statistics show that a German worker works only 1,343 hours a year, compared with an average of 1,746 hours a year in the rest of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries. According to The Telegraph, over the past ten years, the number of Germans who have decided to work after the age of 67 has grown from 660,000 to more than 1.05 million in 2024.