The provided charts depict a comprehensive analysis of an average retirement age of both sexes―males and females―in different European countries over the 4-year period commencing in 2004.
Overall, it is evident that the pension age for both sexes experienced a moderate increase during the period. Accordingly, the average retirement age for men and women was by far the highest in Sweden, while residents in Italy retired earlier than other countries.
In detail, in 2004, the retirement age of men was exact 63 in Sweden and it slightly increased to over 63 after 4 years, remaining its dominance over the period. Accordingly, this ratio constituted 62 years for people in Netherlands and continued to rise to over 62 years in 2008. The next highest age for pension was noted in UK at 61 years in 2004, before growing to almost 62 years within 4 years. Meanwhile, the Germans and Danes witnessed the identical trend, each rose by 1 years throughout the period, 60-61 and 59-60 respectively. The retirement age of males climbed from 58,5 years in 2004 and exact 59 years in 2008. Ultimately, this ratio remained consistency at 58 years in Italy.
Furthermore, the pension age of women also saw some fluctuations. The highest ages recorded in Sweden, Netherlands and UK, each at 62, 61 and 60 years respectively in 2004, then they saw a moderate jump to 63, 62 and 61, in that order over the mentioned period. Likewise, the retirement age in Germany increased from 59 in 2004 to 60 in 2008. Moreover, the ratio for French and Danish people showed a tedious upward trend each by 0,5 years from 2004 to 2008. Conversely, only the pension age of Italian females declined gradually from 57 to 56 over the given years.