The beautiful island country of Sri Lanka has the youngest retirement age in the world where everyone can retire after just 55 years. Unlike European countries, where the population is ageing fast, Sri Lanka remains heavily skewed towards the young. While the UK’s mean age is 40 years old, Sri Lanka’s average is just 32.
The gorgeous island country has sought to boost its tourism sector but ongoing economic and political instability have put many off. The country is currently targeting 2.3 million international tourist arrivals in 2024, as visitors flock to see the wildlife, sunny beaches and rich history.
However, not all workers in Sri Lanka can enjoy retirement at 55. Some sectors, including doctors, have to work until they are 65 years old due to a crippling shortage of health professionals in the country.
Sri Lanka shares the title of the youngest age with Thailand.
Thai residents can also quit their working lives when they turn 55, but officials have warned that the country is sleepwalking towards a crisis due to the number of elderly people in the country.
There are just three other countries that have a retirement age under 60.
Workers in Indonesia and Nepal can retire and enjoy a state pension at just 58 years old.
However, both countries have seen moves to increase this state pension age.
In Indonesia, the government has vowed to increase the retirement age by one year for every three years until it is 65 in 2043 due to an ageing crisis, with an elderly population of 18 million people.
In Nepal, a government report last month recommended increasing the retirement age to at least 60 years.
In fourth place is Bangladesh, with a pension age of 59.
Greece, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Denmark and Norway have the oldest retirement ages in the world at 67.
The age of retirement is a hot-button political issue in many countries.
Last April, there were widespread violent protests in France after a law was passed to raise the state pension age from 62 to 64 by 2030.
In February, there were reports that the retirement age in the UK will have to rise to 71 years for anyone born after April 1970.
The current UK state pension age of 66 is set to rise to 67 between May 2026 and March 2028.
From 2044, it is expected to rise to 68.
Les Mayhew, associate head of global research at the International Longevity Centre and author of the report State Pension Age and Demographic Change, said: “In the UK, state pension age would need to be 70 or 71 compared with 66 now, to maintain the status quo of the number of workers per state pensioner. But if you bring preventable ill health into the equation, that would have to increase even more.”
