Greek retirement ages are still 62 and 67: a 2010 law ties them to life expectancy, but we found no decision to change them

Greek news sites have spent the autumn of 2026 reporting a rush to retire, which they attribute to fears that retirement ages will rise in 2027.¹²¹³¹⁴ The ages have not changed.³ A 2010 law says they are to move with life expectancy, but the change has to be made by a ministerial decision, and we found no record of one ever being issued.¹⁹¹⁰ This explainer sets out what the law says, what ministers have said and what the official figures on pension applications show.

What are Greek retirement ages today?

Since 1 January 2022, the ages for a full Greek old-age pension have been 62 for people with 40 years (12,000 days) of contributions and 67 for people with 15 years (4,500 days).³ Law 4336/2015, passed in August 2015, set those ages.³ The same provision makes them expressly "subject to" article 11(3) of law 3863/2010, the clause that links retirement ages to life expectancy.³

How is the life-expectancy clause meant to work?

Article 11(3) of law 3863/2010 was published in the Government Gazette (ΦΕΚ, Fyllo Efimeridas tis Kyverniseos) on 15 July 2010.¹⁷ It says retirement ages "are re-set according to the change in the life expectancy of the country's population, with age 65 as the reference point" (in our translation).¹² It covers people insured with social-insurance funds and in the public sector, whenever they were first insured.¹ The clause applies from 1 January 2021, when the change over 2010–2020 was to be counted, and from 1 January 2024 the ages are to be re-set every three years.¹²

The adjustment is not automatic. Under article 11(3), it is made by a joint ministerial decision (κοινή υπουργική απόφαση, ΚΥΑ) of the finance and labour ministers, issued in the last year of each period and based on indicators from ΕΛΣΤΑΤ (Ελληνική Στατιστική Αρχή, Elliniki Statistiki Archi, the Hellenic Statistical Authority) and Eurostat.¹² A parallel provision for public-sector pensions, article 7(3) of law 3865/2010, follows the same timetable but says the re-setting is done by a special law voted in Parliament.¹⁸ The two texts do not make clear which rule would govern public-sector ages.¹¹⁸

On our reading of law 3863/2010, the first three-year period runs from 2024 to 2026, so a decision on ages for 2027–2029 would fall due in 2026.¹ Capital.gr reported in May 2024 that the re-evaluation was due in 2026, for 2027.¹⁹ Greek press reports instead describe the changes, which had been due from 2027, as frozen up to and including 2029, with any increase applying from 2030.⁹¹⁰¹¹ We found no amending law that moves the statutory date, and neither law database we used carries an amendment note on the paragraph; Lawspot lists the article as last amended on 25 July 2014.¹²

Has a decision ever been made?

We found no record of a joint ministerial decision under article 11(3) of law 3863/2010, whether for 2021, for 2024 or since.⁹¹⁰ Capital.gr and Insider.gr reported in November 2025 that no adjustment had been made, pointing to the fall in life expectancy during the pandemic.⁹¹⁰ Capital.gr had earlier also cited the rise to 62 and 67, which Deputy Labour Minister Anna Efthymiou later called "a safety margin".¹⁹⁷ In May 2024, Capital.gr quoted the then deputy labour minister, Panos Tsakloglou, as saying that "retirement ages will remain unchanged up to 2027" (in our translation).¹⁹

What have ministers said?

On 1 November 2025, Efthymiou told ΣΚΑΪ (SKAI) television that "no question arises of adjusting retirement ages" (in our translation).⁷⁹ Efthymiou said the increase made in August 2015 gives "a safety margin" and that it is "a matter we are clearly monitoring, though no prospect of change appears under present conditions" (in our translation).⁷

On 4 June 2026, Labour Minister Niki Kerameus told Parliament's Committee on Hearings: "There is nothing at all, at this moment, in the actuarial studies that shows us anything pointing towards raising retirement ages" (in our translation).⁵⁶ On 16 July 2026, asked on ΣΚΑΪ about German Chancellor Merz's remarks on raising retirement ages in Europe, Kerameus said that none of the current data presented to her by the Actuarial Authority point at this moment to any increase in retirement ages, according to a single report by enikonomia.gr.⁸ An undated Vouliwatch report carries the headline "Niki Kerameus: we are not considering raising retirement ages" (in our translation).²¹

What do the projections say?

In April 2024, Capital.gr reported that the National Actuarial Authority (Εθνική Αναλογιστική Αρχή, Ethniki Analogistiki Archi) had projected, in a submission to the EU's Ageing Working Group, that by 2030 the age of 62 would become 63 years and 5 months and the age of 67 would become 68 years and 5 months.²²¹⁹ That is a projection reported by the press, not a decision, and we have not read the underlying study.²²

Eurostat puts life expectancy at 65 in Greece at 19.7 years in both 2010 and 2020, at 19.1 years in 2021, at 20.1 years in 2023 and at 20.3 years in 2024, the latest year it shows.²⁰ By our calculation, that means no change over 2010–2020, the decade the law says counts at first application, and about 0.6 years more in 2024 than in 2010.²⁰¹ The law bases the decision on ΕΛΣΤΑΤ and Eurostat indicators, and the text of article 11(3) we read does not say how a change in life expectancy converts into months of retirement age.¹²

Is there really a rush to retire?

e-ΕΦΚΑ (Ηλεκτρονικός Εθνικός Φορέας Κοινωνικής Ασφάλισης, Ilektronikos Ethnikos Foreas Koinonikis Asfalisis, e-EFKA), the national social-insurance fund, publishes a monthly «ΑΤΛΑΣ» (ATLAS) report on pension applications, and its latest, for June 2026, was posted in September 2026.⁴ The report counts 110,632 new pension applications in January–June 2026.⁴

Those are not 110,632 retirements. e-ΕΦΚΑ counts as a pension application any claim for an old-age, disability or survivors' pension or for the paraplegic allowance, including extensions and renewals.⁴ Old-age claims made up 52,412 of the 110,632 applications in January–June 2026, which by our calculation is 47.4%.⁴

ΕΝΥΠΕΚΚ (ENYPEKK, Ένωση για την Υπεράσπιση της Εργασίας και του Κοινωνικού Κράτους, the Union for the Defence of Labour and the Social State) is a group chaired by Alexis Mitropoulos.¹²¹³ Athina 9,84, a radio station, reported ENYPEKK's claim that 2026 was seeing "the biggest wave of mass retirements of the last decade, since ΕΦΚΑ was founded" (in our translation).¹⁵ e-ΕΦΚΑ's own table does not bear that out for the first half of the year: by our calculation from its monthly figures, January–June 2022 had 111,744 applications, more than the 110,632 of January–June 2026.⁴ The record year in e-ΕΦΚΑ's table, which starts in 2019, is 2021, with 212,151 applications, followed by 2022 with 211,133; 2025 had 199,450.⁴

Where do the newer, higher figures come from?

The figures for July–September 2026 come from ENYPEKK.¹²¹³ ENYPEKK says 20,100 pension applications were filed in September 2026.¹² Its total for January–September 2026, reported by Insider.gr and To Pontiki, is 164,434 applications.¹³¹⁴ in.gr, which put the nine-month total at over 163,000, reported that ENYPEKK's figures are based on e-ΕΦΚΑ's ΑΤΛΑΣ system and quoted Mitropoulos as noting that the July–September figures had not yet been officially announced.¹² ENYPEKK has called on the government to abolish all provisions in force for raising retirement ages.¹⁵

If ENYPEKK's figure of 164,434 is right, it would exceed the 161,878 applications of January–September 2022, by our calculation from e-ΕΦΚΑ's table.¹³⁴ If the pace continues, ENYPEKK's figures point to more than 200,000 applications for 2026, which would approach the 2021 and 2022 totals.¹³¹⁴ Athina 9,84 put applications in January–August 2026 at 144,000 and called that "a new record" (in our translation), but by our calculation e-ΕΦΚΑ's figures give 144,033 for January–August 2022, so a rounded 144,000 does not establish a record.¹⁶⁴ e-ΕΦΚΑ's latest published report runs to June 2026, so its figures for July and August 2026 are not yet out.⁴

Why are people applying now?

The explanations on offer are claims, mostly from ENYPEKK, not findings. In.gr, reporting ENYPEKK's view, cites fear of higher ages from 1 January 2027 under the life-expectancy clause, new pension calculations covering the whole career and easier rules for pensioners who keep working.¹² Insider.gr adds concern about changes to buying "notional" years of contributions (πλασματικά έτη, plasmatika eti) and better pension levels for people retiring in 2026.¹³ Athina 9,84 pointed to demographics, the option of working while drawing a full pension, and notional years.¹⁶