Given are the charts illustrating the rate of retirement age of both genders in different countries from 2004 to 2008.
Overall, what stands out from the bar charts is that the average age of retired men was higher than women in 7 countries over the four year period from 2004. In addition, citizens in all of those nations retired sooner in 2004.
A closer look at the charts reveals that the highest figure for retirement age of men in 2004 belonged to Sweden with exactly 63 then it rose to nearly 64 in 4 years later. In the next place, the average age in the Netherlands and the UK accounted for 62 and 61 in 2004, but they increased to 62.2 and 61.9 in 2008. The following group includes Germany, Denmark, France and Italy in 3rd to 7th position respectively, ranging from 60 to 58. In the later year over the period in question, those nations observed a slight growth of 1 year, except France with a 0.5 year increase and Italy with a stable figure.
Moving onto further details, the highest retired age of women in 2004 was recorded in Sweden with 62, followed by a minor rise to 63. The Netherlands, the UK and Germany came in the following positions, which started at 61, 60 and 59 in the first year and all increased to 62, 61 and 60 in 2008 in turn. Next, before having witnessed a rise of 0.5 years in 2008, Denmark and France began at 58 and 57.5 in 4 previous years. Finally, Italy bottomed the list when it is the only country which followed a downwards trend to 56 in the last year after commencing at 57 in 2004.