Fertility rates currently average 1.66 across OECD countries, well below the level that ensures population replacement. The trend to fewer children has been going on since the late 1950s, but stopped around the turn of century on average. The fall in fertility rates reflected changes in individuals' lifestyle preferences, in family formation, and in the constraints of everyday living, such as those driven by labour-market insecurity, difficulties in finding suitable housing and unaffordable childcare.

Remaining life expectancy at 65 significantly contributes to wellbeing at older ages. It also influences the finances of retirement-income systems. In 2015-20, on average in OECD countries, women aged 65 could expect to live an additional 21.3 years, which is forecast to increase to 25.2 years by 2060-65. Men of the same age could expect to live 18.1 more years in 2015-20, with a projected increase of 4.5 years by 2060-65 to reach about 22.5 years. Gender gaps are therefore expected to decrease slightly over the next 45 years (from 3.3 to 2.7 years on average in OECD countries). The improvement in remaining life expectancy at age 65 will slow a little. It increased from 13.7 years in 1955-1960 to 15.9 years in 1985-1990 before accelerating to 19.8 years in 2015-2020 in the OECD on average. It is expected to rise further to 22.6 years in 2045-2050 (Figure 1.4, Panel A in Chapter 1).

Currently, the demographically oldest OECD country is Japan, with an old-age to working-age ratio equal to 52.0 (meaning 52 individuals aged 65 and over for 100 persons of working age defined as 20 to 64). Finland and Italy also have high old-age ratios, of about 40. By 2050, the old-age to working-age ratio is expected to reach more than 70 in Greece (75.0), Italy (74.4), Japan (80.7), Korea (78.8), Portugal (71.4) and Spain (78.4).

There are large cross-country variations in the employment rates of people aged 55 to 69 in the OECD. In 2018, Iceland displayed the highest rates among all age groups, at 82.9% for those aged 55 to 59, 78.0% for individuals aged between 60 and 64 and 52.6% for those aged 65 to 69. By contrast, the lowest employment rates were found in Greece and Turkey where employment rates for people aged 55 to 59 were 52.3% and 39.6%, respectively. At ages 60-64 and 65-69 Luxembourg recorded the lowest employment rates in 2018, with 19.0% and 3.3% respectively. In addition, among the 60-64 age group, the employment rate is at 30% or lower in Belgium, Greece, Slovenia and Turkey.

The average effective age of labour market exit remained below 65 in 2018 in slightly less than half of OECD countries for men and in two-thirds of them for women. Average exit ages are at or below 60 for women only in Greece, Hungary and the Slovak Republic. They are below 62 for both men and women in Belgium, France, Greece, Luxembourg and the Slovak Republic. By contrast, both women and men in Korea and men in Chile, Japan, Korea and Mexico withdrew from the labour market on average after age 70. In nearly all OECD countries, men exit the labour market after women, with the largest difference observed in Mexico (4.8 years). Only in Estonia, France and Luxembourg is the effective age of labour market exit higher for women than for men, though only slightly.

This indicator measures the remaining life expectancy at the average age of labour market exit. Women can expect to live 25 years or more after exiting the labour market in Austria, Belgium, France, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg and Spain (, Panel B). Similarly, men can expect to survive more than 20 years after labour market exit in Belgium, France, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg and Spain (, Panel A). Women’s remaining life expectancy at the average age of labour market exit was below 20 years in Chile, Korea, Latvia, Mexico, Turkey and the United States, and men’s was below 15 years in Chile, Korea, Latvia and Mexico.