The average working life of Romanians is approximately 32 years, after which they retire, the shortest average working life in the EU. Surprisingly, in the last 10 years, the duration of working life in Romania actually decreased, by 0.4 years, the effect being produced by the cohorts of special retirees and by the one-year decrease in working life for women.
The European average of working life is 39 years, while the Netherlands registers the highest values, almost 44 years in the labor field. In absolutely all other states, working life duration has increased.
It should also be noted that the duration of the professional life also means the duration of employees’ contributions, especially to the pension fund, where demographic problems put a particular pressure.
Between 2013 and 2023, the estimated duration of working life increased in all EU countries, except Romania, where it decreased by 0.4 years. In particular, five countries have seen significant growth of four or more years: Hungary (6.2 years), Malta (5.3 years), Ireland (4.4 years), Estonia (4.3 years) and the Netherlands (4.0 years).
Hungary and Malta, which had below average working life duration estimates in 2013, exceeded the EU average in 2023 due to their strong growth. The main reason for Malta’s exceptional growth was the remarkable increase in working life estimates among women (8.9 years), the biggest gain of any EU country.
Conversely, Spain, Germany and Austria experienced relatively stable working life duration estimates, with increases of less than two years.
The graph below shows the evolution of working life duration in the last 10 years in Europe
A significant trend in most EU countries was that the working life duration estimate of women increased more than that of men, the only exceptions being Denmark and Romania. In Malta, Slovakia, Luxembourg, Estonia and Cyprus, the increase was significantly higher for women than for men. In Bulgaria, Slovenia, Denmark and Sweden, the increases for men and women were roughly equal.
The working life indicator is an estimate of the number of years a person, currently aged 15, is expected to be in the labor force (that is, employed or unemployed) over their lifetime.
This indicator aims to provide a different viewpoint on the labor market, analyzing the entire life cycle of people in the labor field compared with specific aspects such as youth unemployment or early retirement from active life.
European statistical office Eurostat estimates the working life duration for the EU 27 as a whole, as well as by member country, plus the three EFTA states (Iceland, Norway and Switzerland) and two candidate countries (Serbia and Turkey).
In the EU, working life duration estimates varied widely depending on countries and their geographical location.
The Netherlands was the country with the longest working life duration, 43.7 years. Next are the northern European countries, all with durations exceeding 40 years, Sweden (43.1 years), Denmark (41.3 years) and Estonia (40.8 years) ranking first. The shortest durations of professional life, of under 35 years, were recorded in Romania (32.2 years) and in several countries in Southern Europe, namely Italy (32.9 years), Croatia (34.0 years ), Greece (34.2 years) and Bulgaria (34.5 years), followed by Belgium (34.7 years).
Gender gaps in 2023
In 2023, differences were noted in the average number of working life years between men and women in all countries. Men are expected generally to work longer than women, with northern European countries showing a gender gap below the EU average of 4.3 years.
Lithuania and Estonia were the only EU countries where the gender gap was negative, as women are expected to work 1.3 and 0.8 years longer than men respectively. Among the other countries, the smallest gender gap was recorded in Latvia and Finland, of only 0.1 years.
Conversely, the countries with the largest gender gap in 2023 were Italy (8.9 years), Romania (7.1 years), Greece and Malta (both with 6.9 years).
Upon comparing EU countries, men are expected to work the longest in the Netherlands (45.7 years), Sweden (44.1 years), Denmark (42.8 years), Ireland (42.8 years), Cyprus (41.6 years), Malta (41.6 years) and Germany (41.4 years). On the other hand, the countries where men are expected to work the least are Croatia with 35.4 years, Bulgaria (35.6 years), Romania (35.6 years) and Belgium (36.5 years).
At the same time, the EU countries where women are expected to work less than 30 years in their lifetime are Italy (28.3 years) and Romania (28.5 years). These are followed by Greece (30.6 years), Croatia (32.6 years), Belgium (32.8 years), Poland (33.0 years), Bulgaria (33.2 years) and Luxembourg (33.3 years), all with less than 34 years. In contrast, the longest working life durations for women, that is, more than 38 years, were found in Sweden (41.9 years), the Netherlands (41.5 years), Estonia (41.5 years), Finland (39.9 years), Denmark (39.8 years), Lithuania and Portugal (both with 38.2 years).
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