The actual length of time Greeks spend in the labor market has increased by more than three years in just a decade, reflecting both changes in the social security system and the profound demographic changes taking place across Europe.
The latest Eurostat data shows that the expected length of working life in Greece increased in 2025 to 35.3 years, from 34.8 years in 2024, confirming a trend recorded in recent years. Compared to 2014, before the major social security reforms that significantly increased the general limits and gradually abolished the special retirement age limits, the change is even more impressive: At that time, the estimated length of a Greek in the labor market was only 32.1 years.
This does not reflect the legal retirement age, nor does it mean that all citizens are necessarily working longer. It is a statistical estimate of a person’s total length of participation in the labor market, either employed or unemployed, based on current employment rates and life expectancy.
However, its continuous increase demonstrates that Greeks remain active in the labor market for a longer period of time compared to the past.
Despite the rise, Greece still lags the European Union average, which stood at 37.5 years in 2025, compared to 37.2 in 2024. Since 2016, the average European working life has increased by 2.3 years, from 35.2 to 37.5 years. The leading countries remain the Netherlands with 44 years, Sweden with 43.4 and Denmark with 42.6 years, while the countries with the fewest years are Romania with 32.7 years, Italy with 33 and Bulgaria with 34.6 years.
