Average retirement age climbs to 66 years and 4 months

The average age at which people in the Netherlands retired reached 66 years and 4 months in 2025, according to figures released by the CBS on Thursday. More than 100,000 workers went on pension that year at this average age—more than 2½ months later than in 2024.

The rise occurred partly because fewer employees stopped working before reaching the state pension, or AOW, age of 67. In 2025, 40 percent of workers retired before age 67, down from 46 percent in 2024. The AOW age stood at 67 in both 2024 and 2025 and is scheduled to increase to 67 years and 3 months in 2028.

The AOW age was raised to 67 in 2024. That year, 40 percent of those entering retirement did so at exactly 67, compared with just 6 percent the previous year.

Retirement ages have reportedly climbed for years as the AOW threshold has increased and self-employed people have delayed retirement. The latest available figures for the self-employed, from 2023, show an average retirement age of 68 years and 9 months — typically three years later than wage earners.

Women accounted for 45 percent of employees who retired in 2025, up from less than 30 percent at the start of the century. Female employees retire an average of five months earlier than men, the CBS stated.