Eurostat has reported that the expected average working life across the European Union stands at 36.9 years, with some countries surpassing 40 years. In contrast, Serbia’s expected working life is below this average. The duration of working life varies widely among EU member states, ranging from just 28 years for women in Italy to 45 years for men in the Netherlands.
In Serbia, the expected working life is currently 34.8 years, showing a steady increase over the past decade. In 2014, it was 3.5 years shorter. For 2023, the longest expected working lives are in the Netherlands (43.7 years), Sweden (43.1 years), and Denmark (41.3 years), while the shortest are in Romania (32.2 years), Italy (32.9 years) and Croatia (34 years).
The report highlights that men generally have an expected working life 4.3 years longer than women. However, this gap has been narrowing over the past decade.
For men in the EU, the average expected working life is 39 years, with the longest periods found in the Netherlands (45.7 years), Sweden (44.1 years), Denmark, and Ireland (42.8 years). The shortest working lives are in Croatia (35.4 years), Bulgaria, and Romania (35.6 years).
Women, on average, are expected to work for 34.7 years. The longest expected working lives for women are in Sweden (41.9 years), the Netherlands, and Estonia (41.5 years), while the shortest are in Italy (28.3 years), Romania (28.5 years), and Greece (30.6 years).
Lithuania and Estonia are unique in the EU for having women expected to work longer than men.
In Serbia, men are expected to work for 37.4 years, while women are expected to work for 32 years.
Since 2013, the expected average working life has been rising, reaching 34.7 years. The only exception was during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, when a slight decrease was observed.
In most EU countries, the expected working life has increased, except in Romania. Notably, the increase in women’s working life has been more pronounced than that for men, particularly in Malta, Slovakia, and Luxembourg.
In Serbia, the expected working life for men has grown by nearly three years, and for women, by more than four years.
This indicator estimates how many years a 15-year-old is expected to spend in the labor force (either employed or unemployed) throughout their life.
