In 2015, the expected duration of working life in Croatia was 32.6 years, the same as in Belgium, Hungary and Poland. The EU average was 35.4 years, an increase of nearly two years compared with 2005.
Eurostat defines "duration of working life" as the number of years a person aged 15 is expected to be active, either employed or unemployed, in the labour market throughout their life.
Croatia was grouped among countries with the expected duration of working life of less than 33 years. The shortest working life is expected in Italy (30.7 years), followed by Bulgaria (32.1 years) and Greece (32.3 years), while the longest working life is expected in Sweden (41.2 years), ahead of the Netherlands (39.9 years) and Denmark (39.2 years).
Between 2005 and 2015, the expected duration of working life increased in all EU member states, the most in Malta (+5.1 years), Hungary (+4.2 years) and Luxembourg (+3.1 years).
Eurostat says that this is due to the fact that duration of working life increased more rapidly for women (32.8 years in 2015 compared with 30.2 years in 2005, or +2.6 years) than for men (37.9 years in 2015 vs. 36.7 years in 2005, or +1.2 year).
The largest increases in women's working life were recorded in Malta (+8.6 years), Spain (+5.1 years) and Luxembourg (+4.7 years).
In Croatia, between 2005 and 2015, working life increased by 1.2 years. Working life increased by 1.9 years, from 28.8 to 30.7 years, for women and by 0.8 years, from 33.7 to 34.5 years, for men.