The provided illustration displays two bar graphs illustrating the average retirement age of men and women in seven different countries in the years 2004 and 2008.
Overall, there was an increase in the average retirement age for both genders in several countries except Italy, where the age remained constant for men and decreased for women. Sweden had the highest retirement age for both sexes, while Italy had the lowest.
Looking at the data for men, Sweden had the highest retirement age in both years, increasing from 63 to 63.7. The Netherlands, the UK, and Germany had slightly lower initial ages at 62, 61, and 60 respectively in 2004, which all showed an increase by 2008 to 62, 61.8, and 61. Denmark and France started at 59 and 58.6, with Denmark increasing to 60 and France to 59. Italy had the lowest retirement age for men at 58, remaining constant throughout the period.
For women, Sweden, the Netherlands, the UK, and Germany all saw an increase in retirement age from 2004 to 2008 to 62.5, 62, 60.5, and 60 respectively. Denmark and France also experienced a rise from 58 and 57.3 in 2004 to 58.6 and 58 in 2008. Italy was the only country where the retirement age for women decreased from 57 to 56 during the same period.