Luxembourg's labour force is ageing

The Luxembourg government has published new data on retirements between 2020 and 2024, shortly after the presentation of a draft pension reform that could change the current conditions for retirement. According to data presented by the Minister of Health and Social Protection, Martine Deprez, a total of 40,972 people from the general social security regime - i.e. private sector employees - will retire over this five-year period.

The most remarkable thing in the statistics is the age of new retirees. Almost half of the 22,680 retired workers - 41.8% - finished their working lives between the ages of 57 and 59. Only 28% made it to age 62 or older. These figures contrast markedly with the stated goals of the forthcoming pension reform, which envisages both an increase in the required length of insurance experience and an increase in the contribution rate from 24% to 25.5%.

Interestingly, among the 2,409 individual entrepreneurs who also completed their careers during this period, the opposite is true: 33.5 per cent of them retired after the age of 65. This may indicate both economic necessity and the nature of their professional activity, which is more flexible and less physically demanding.

Breaking down the data by industry, the largest number of retirees were in construction (3,181), trade (3,051), financial services (3,100) and healthcare (2,459). These figures highlight where the ageing workforce is coming from - especially as 2024 was a record year for retirements, with 9,655 compared to 7,081 in 2020.

Among workers with special pension regimes - mainly civil servants and officials - the number of new pensioners totalled 4,217. Moreover, 7.3% of them left the labour market already at the age of 55-56. This group includes 3,134 civil servants, 766 public utility employees and 317 employees of the railway company CFL.

Talks about the reform of the pension system in Luxembourg have been going on for years, but it is in 2025 that the government intends to finalise the process. According to current plans, the texts of the draft law will be submitted to the parliament by the end of the year. The main task of the authorities remains to balance the system in the context of an ageing population and increasing life expectancy.