Workers over 65 in Germany up 46% in just five years

The number of people aged over 65 still in work in Germany has risen by about 46% over the past five years to around 1.9 million, official figures showed on Thursday.

The trend has been building for years, driven in part by a gradual increase in the statutory retirement age from 65 to 67, with the threshold reaching at least 66 years and two months in 2025.

Early retirement typically comes with reduced benefits, encouraging more older people to remain in the workforce.

Official figures show that 1.28 million people over 65 were registered as employed in 2020, rising steadily to 1.88 million in 2025.

Of these, 653,000 were aged 70 or older, up from 469,000 in 2020, while about 229,000 were over 75, compared with 175,000 five years earlier.

Experts cite multiple factors behind the rise, including labour shortages, personal motivation and financial necessity.

The data from the Federal Statistical Office was requested by the minor Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) party.

Founder Sahra Wagenknecht said many older people were not working by choice but out of financial need, adding that the increase suggests hundreds of thousands of pensioners are compelled to supplement relatively low incomes.

She said Germany could look to Austria's pension system as a model, where payouts are higher on average, though contribution rates are also higher.

Despite the increase, older workers still represent a relatively small share. Around 18.4 million people in Germany were aged over 65 in 2025, while the total workforce was about 42.5 million.