December the 13th, 2024 – The number of Croatian retirees continuing economic activities in some way or another is low on the EU’s scale, with only three EU Member States with lower figures.
As Poslovni Dnevnik/VL/Ljubica Gataric writes, one in eight retirees living in an EU country continues to work after reaching retirement age. The share of employed retirees by country ranges from less than two percent in Romania to 55 percent in Estonia.
When it comes to Croatian retirees, we can see that the country has been listed among the countries where older workers are underutilised, with only 42 percent of the population aged 55 to 64 being formally employed. This is low when compared to the EU average of 60 percent, or more than 70 percent in Germany.
After officially reaching retirement age, just 5% of Croatian retirees continue to work, which is the fourth lowest share of employment among the retired population. Spain, Greece and Romania have the lowest employment rates among retirees of all EU Member States. The Scandinavian and Baltic countries rank at the top, with 37 to 55 percent of retirees continuing to work even after reaching formal retirement age.
The motives for retired people choosing to continue to be economically active are, of course, all very different. While retirees from the Baltic countries, much like Croatian retirees, continue to work because they have to, Scandinavians work because it gives them pleasure to do so.
Financial need was the dominant reason for continuing to work in several countries, including Cyprus (68.6%), Romania (54.3%), Bulgaria (53.6%), Croatia (48.2%) and Latvia (47.9%), Eurostat stated that in its periodic survey on the participation of retirees in the labour market conducted in 2023.
The next such survey isn’t scheduled to be carried out until 2031, and the latest results should, they say, help policymakers focus on policies that will bring better incomes, and also encourage “active ageing”.
According to Croatia’s administrative sources, 33,000 Croatian retirees are currently formally employed for four hours, which would account for 3.3 percent of the domestic pensioner corps. Eurostat’s definition of employment is broader because it includes a formal employment contract, payment in kind, etc. If we were to look at the situation with Croatian retirees according to that, then around 55,000 Croatian retirees continue to work at this moment in time.
The European Commission (EC) has been promoting its so-called “active ageing policy” for some time now, which aims to encourage people to contribute to the economy and society wherever possible and for as long as possible. As far as Croatia is concerned, in its report on pension adequacy this year, the EC has stated that the outflow of the workforce should be reduced, the employment rate of older workers should be increased, longer working lives should be promoted, and adequate and sustainable pensions should be ensured.
People worked for a shorter period than Croatia in nine EU Member States, and Eurostat’s data shows that Croatia ranks tenth with an average age of 60 years and six months, which is how old people were when they first retired. The French worked two months less than the Croats, and the Germans left their companies and jobs at just 62 years and two months of age. It should also be noted that here in Croatia, people now work the longest in the public sector, where few people leave their jobs before the age of 65. As of more recently, their contracts can be extended to 67 years.
It has to be said however that working lives have increased across the EU. The study found that people who retired last year were on average five years older than the generation that retired before 2012. According to official data from the Croatian pension system, people who retired this year were on average 63 years and seven months of age.
There are two predominant reasons for continuing to work after retirement. Across the EU, 36.3% of people continued to work because they enjoyed working and being productive, while 28.6% did so out of financial necessity. Other reasons were the desire to maintain social integration, the financial attractiveness of the job, or the employment of a partner.
