The effective Finnish retirement age rose by a further six months to 62 years and four months in 2021, according to figures from the Finnish Centre for Pensions (ETK).

Research from the group revealed that the effective retirement age, which is the average age of exit from the labour market, has risen “exceptionally” during the past two years amid the pandemic, also rising by five months in 2020.

In addition to this, the research showed that employment rate of those aged 60-64 has risen by half a percentage point to 56.9 per cent.

These trends are partly due to the rising retirement age agreed on in the 2017 pension reform, although ETK suggested that it may also be a result of the unexpected decline in the number of new retirees on disability pension.

Indeed, the figures revealed a more than 8 per cent fall on the number of savers retiring on a disability pension in 2021 compared to 2020, down by 1,600 to 17,500.

This is the lowest ever observed number of new retirees on a disability pension, although ETK warned that “time will show” whether this is a permanent trend or a temporary result of the pandemic.

ETK development manager, Jari Kannisto, commented: “In recent years, the effective retirement age has risen particularly thanks to the 2017 pension reform.

"As the number of new retirees on a disability pension also declined, the effective retirement age rose more than ever in 2021.

“It is unlikely that the health of the Finnish population has improved this much during the corona pandemic. Instead, the care debt is likely to have increased since people have avoided seeing a doctor during the pandemic. It is most likely that the number of disability pension recipients will rise after the pandemic.

“Working lives have clearly lengthened. Since the reform, the employment rate of the 60–64-year-olds has improved by nearly 10 percentage points. Last year it was record high.”

Previous research from ETK also suggested a long-term trend towards increasing retirement ages, revealing that the average intended retirement age in Finland has increased by almost two years over a 10-year period.

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