The average life expectancy in Spain could have increased to 92.8 years by the year 2050. For females that means 94 and males, 93 years. Despite this increased aging, the retirement age will be barely increased.
Only in South Korea, Estonia, Ireland, Turkey, Slovenia, and Luxembourg is the suspected life expectancy by 2050 even higher. This appears from a study by the British research institute Our Life Plan. The investigation looked at the 36 Member States of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
Women live longer than men
The average life expectancy of all OECD countries together rises from 82 years in 2021 to 90 years by 2050. For South Korea, number one on the list, the life expectancy will be 98 years. For all countries in the study, life expectancy for women is higher than that for men. Moreover, in the case of Spain, that is a difference, like South Korea of two years.
Retirement age in Spain
With this increased life expectancy in the coming 30 years, the average retirement age increases by three years in the OECD countries. However, Spain is an exception to this and belongs to the countries where the average retirement age is not increased to 2050. Currently, it is 63 years, but rising to 64 years by then. The retirement age is the lowest in Greece in 2050 (57 years), followed by Poland and France with 61.49 and 61.78 years respectively.
According to the OECD, it is inevitable the increased life expectancy entails an increase in retirement age. Because otherwise, the government cannot meet the costs of aging. With the continuous increase in the average age in Spain, and therefore increasing aging, this cost problem must be addressed.
Increasing tax burden for care and pensions
According to a study by the OECD on the national debt in 2060 of the affiliated countries, it appears the tax burden with an average of 8% of the gross domestic product (GDP) will increase. This increase is due to high government costs for care, health care, and pensions for the elderly. In Spain, this tax burden is even greater and the expectation is that they will not have increased by the average 8%, but with 13.23% of the GDP in 2060. This percentage is even higher in Slovakia and Poland.
