How many pension years will you get?

Your wall of years §

Every brick is one year of your life, from birth to one hundred. The years you have lived are filled in, the years before the gate are hollow, and past the gate come the pension years: the bright ones are years without activity limitations, the hatched ones are years with limitations. The fading at the far end shows that, as the years pass, fewer and fewer people your age are still alive.

• lived
• before the gate
• the gate
• without limitations
• with limitations
• beyond the average

The healthy years sit at the start of the pension only so the share shows; in real life they can fall anywhere. The average knows nothing about you — whether you smoke or run, whether you inherited many years or few — the wall shows the average for people of your sex and age in Romania.

The gate moved during your lifetime §

Your grandmother, born in April 1944, retired at 57. Your mother, born in January 1960, retired at 61 years and 8 months, in September 2021. You, born in January 1986, retire at 65, in January 2051. Three generations, three gates — and the women's gate is still moving: those born in January 1970 are the first to retire at 65, in January 2035.

Standard retirement age by month of birth, from annex 5 to Law 360/2023. Men born from January 1950 onwards all retire at 65; women reach 65 with those born in January 1970.

After the phase-in ends, in 2035, the gate does not freeze. The law says the retirement age keeps rising with life expectancy: for every year gained by life expectancy, the age rises by six months, through further laws, and it never rises when life expectancy falls.

The good news is that the years past the gate have grown too. A 65-year-old man had 13.1 years ahead of him in 2005 and has 15.1 in 2024; a 65-year-old woman had 15.9 and has 19.1. The year 2024 is the best in the series for both, after the pandemic collapse.

Life expectancy at 65, Romania, 2005–2024, Eurostat. The 2024 values are estimated.

Women get more. Healthy, only a little more §

A woman turning 65 today has 19.1 years ahead of her, four more than a man the same age. But the years without activity limitations are almost equal: 7.1 for women, 6.8 for men. Of the expected pension years, a woman spends 37 per cent without limitations, a man 45 per cent.

Years after 65, Romania 2024, Eurostat. The bright part: years without activity limitations, as people themselves report them. In 2023, on the old series, the figures were 4.3 years for men and 3.8 for women — the series broke in 2024, so the two years do not compare.

Women live longer with limitations — a European pattern, not a Romanian one. Over a whole life, men in the Union spend 82.1 per cent of their years free of limitations, women 77.9 per cent. And the expected working life, the years in the labour market of a 15-year-old, is 36 years for boys and 29.2 for girls in Romania, against 39.3 and 35 years in the Union.

Where the pension lasts longer §

A 65-year-old Romanian man has 15.1 years ahead of him and a woman 19.1 — among the shortest life expectancies in the Union. A Spaniard has 19.8 and 23.7 years, a Frenchman 19.9 and 23.6, a Swede 20.2 and 22.4. The Union average is 18.4 and 21.8.

Life expectancy at 65, 2024, Eurostat. The United Kingdom is missing from Eurostat's table.

The statutory ages are moving too. Germany rises to 67 in 2031, France to 64–67 in 2032, Spain to 65–67 in 2027, the Netherlands and Italy link the age to life expectancy, Poland keeps 65 for men and 60 for women. In the United Kingdom the age is 66 for those born before 6 April 1960, rises to 67 by March 2028 and to 68 between 2044 and 2046. And the OECD reckons the normal retirement age will reach 70 in Italy, the Netherlands and Sweden and 71 in Estonia.

* The range depends on the contribution period (France, Spain); Sweden has a flexible, benefit-linked age. +LE: the age rises with life expectancy.

Eligibility ages for the full pension from the main scheme, on 1 January 2023, and the changes legislated then (European Commission, after MISSOC). Romania follows Law 360/2023, Denmark includes the May 2025 law.

The one choice that moves the years §

The gate has hinges. The law leaves you three roads, and each changes how many years you get — here they are for the sex you selected above:

With five years over the full contribution stage you can leave up to five years early on an old-age pension; with the full stage you can leave early on a reduced pension; at the standard age you can choose between the pension and one more year of work, with your employer's agreement, until 70. How much money these years need is the other half of the question — answered by the pension you build yourself.

How we computed it §

We compute with the 2024 period table: we assume the mortality of every age stays as it was in 2024 for the rest of your life. If mortality keeps falling, the real years will be more; if a pandemic comes, fewer. Eurostat marks the 2024 values as estimated. Fractional ages, such as 61 years and 8 months, are computed by linear interpolation between whole years.

The healthy years come from the European question about long-standing activity limitations, as people themselves answer it in the EU-SILC survey. Romania changed its series in 2024, so we show both 2023 and 2024, and we compare neither across the break nor lightly across countries: how people report limitations differs by country. The share without limitations is measured at 65; at other retirement ages the calculator applies the same share, so those healthy years are approximate (marked ≈).

The working life counts years of labour-market participation, not years worked — inactivity lowers it, as does staying in school longer; the unemployed still count as participants. The labour-force survey changed its method in 2021, so we show only 2024, not the trend.

The calculator covers the standard age only. Reaching it does not itself grant a pension: entitlement also depends on your contribution record. Special regimes, disability, survivors' pensions and reductions for children raised are not modelled. The law is the one in force on 28 September 2026; if the law changes, the page is recomputed.

Sources §

• Eurostat, life expectancy by age and sex (demo_mlexpec), updated 25 September 2026 — the table
• Eurostat, healthy life years (hlth_hlye), updated 17 July 2026 — the table
• Eurostat, duration of working life (lfsi_dwl_a), updated 17 April 2026 — the table
• Eurostat, healthy life years and duration of working life, methodology notes
• Law 360/2023 on the public pension system, Monitorul Oficial no. 1089 of 4 December 2023: articles 46, 47, 56, 58 and annex 5
• European Commission, pensionable ages in the member states, 2023 update — table 2
• OECD, Pensions at a Glance 2025, chapter 1
• GOV.UK, State Pension age review 2023 — the GAD technical bulletin

All sources were accessed on 28 September 2026. The 2024 values are Eurostat estimates where marked.

Questions and answers §

At what age do I retire if I was born in 1980?

At 65, in the month you turn 65 — women and men born in January 1970 or later all retire at 65, under annex 5 to Law 360/2023 — a future law can move the age.

How long does a pensioner live in Romania?

At 65, the average is 15.1 years for men and 19.1 for women, on 2024 mortality (Eurostat). It is an average, not a prediction for one person.

How many healthy years do you get after 65?

In 2024: 6.8 years for men and 7.1 for women, years without activity limitations as people themselves report them. In 2023, on the old series: 4.3 and 3.8. The two years do not compare, because the series broke.