The working life of Icelanders is by far the longest in Europe. Icelanders can expect to be on the labor market almost nine years longer on average than residents of the European Union.
The average working life of Icelanders last year was 45.7 years based on data from Eurostat, the European Union’s statistical agency. That’s a whole two years longer working life than the Dutch, who are in second place.
In general, the working life of Northern Europeans is longer than that of Southern Europeans. Thus, the working life is the third longest in Sweden, and all the Nordic countries are among the ten countries in Europe where the working life is the longest.
The working lives of Icelanders have shortened a bit in the last decade. In 2014, the average working life of Icelanders was thus 46.2 years, half a year longer than last year. At the same time, the average working life of European Union residents has increased by over two years. Nevertheless, Icelanders still work, as mentioned earlier, much longer than other Europeans on average, 8.8 years in total.
Men in Iceland work considerably longer than women, four years longer in total. The average working life of men is 47.6 years, while that of women is 43.6 years.