Denmark became the first country in the EU to raise its retirement age to 70, after its parliament passed the measure on May 22.
The law applies to Danes born after December 31, 1970.
The reform came the same day Eurostat, the EU’s statistics office, published data showing over one in five people in the EU is now over 65.
The statistics office warned this ageing trend is accelerating, adding strain to national pension systems.
Eighty-one lawmakers voted for the proposal, and 21 against.
It halts Denmark’s previous automatic increases to the retirement age, which since 2006 have been tied to life expectancy and revised every five years.
Last year Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, a Social Democrat, said she would reconsider the model once the age was set at 70. “We no longer believe that the retirement age should be increased automatically,” she told the press in August.
Denmark already planned to raise its official pension age to 68 in 2030 and 69 in 2035. But the newly passed reform sets a hard cap at 70, effectively freezing further increases for younger generations.
The move makes Denmark a frontrunner in what many economists see as an unavoidable shift across Europe, as governments struggle to maintain pension systems in the face of growing deficits and shrinking workforces.
Earlier in May, a European Fiscal Board report criticised EU institutions and member states for failing to address long-term costs of ageing. The board urged a change in approach and warned of “intergenerational imbalances” if policymakers delay reforms.
Other countries face pressure but remain politically gridlocked.
In France, the national audit office said in February the public pension deficit could more than double by 2035, Reuters reported.
However, President Emmanuel Macron’s controversial pension reforms in 2023 triggered mass protests and widespread strikes.
Public frustration is growing, but so is institutional pressure.
The International Monetary Fund has repeatedly urged European governments to reform pension systems, warning longer life expectancy and early retirement ages pose risks to fiscal stability.
In its latest assessments, the IMF noted without structural changes, many countries would face unsustainable pension bills within two decades.
With surveys showing widespread resistance to raising retirement ages among older workers, particularly in physically demanding sectors, most EU states have avoided setting firm retirement ages beyond 67, as The Guardian reported.
Eurostat now projects by 2100, 14.6 per cent of the EU population will be over 80. In the short term, the share over 65 is set to climb to nearly 30 per cent by mid-century.
Despite those figures, few EU member states have proposed copying Denmark’s recent move.
While Copenhagen officials described the move as necessary and future-proof, unions warned it would further strain those in physically demanding professions.
