Polish work-life expectancy sits at 36 years, seventh-lowest in the EU, despite a 3.3-year gain over the past decade

The 36-year baseline

A person who turned 15 in Poland in 2025 is projected to spend 36 years in the workforce, the Polish Economic Institute (PIE) reported using Eurostat data. That is the seventh-lowest figure in the European Union. The EU average is 37.5 years. Countries with shorter expected working lives are Romania, Italy, Bulgaria, Greece, Croatia, Belgium, and Luxembourg. At the other end, Germany, the Netherlands, and the Nordic countries all exceed 40 years.

A decade of catching up

Between 2015 and 2025, the length of working life in Poland rose by 3.3 years. That gain is larger than the EU-wide increase of 2.7 years over the same period. Hungary recorded the biggest jump, adding almost 5 years, while the Netherlands added 4 years. PIE noted that better population health can support a longer working life. A child born in 2024 can expect to live nearly 65 years without serious or moderate health problems, just below the EU average of 65.2 years. Since 2015, healthy life expectancy at birth in Poland has grown by 2.4 years, with women gaining as much as 6 years.

Health alone is not enough

Longer healthy life does not automatically translate into longer labour-force participation, the institute stressed. Southern European countries illustrate the gap: Italy, Greece, Spain, and Bulgaria report relatively long healthy life expectancies but shorter working lives than the EU average. The opposite pattern appears in Germany, the Netherlands, and Finland, where healthy-life indicators are lower yet work tenure exceeds 40 years.

A person born in 2024 will have an average of almost 65 years of life ahead without serious or moderate health problems.

Institutional levers matter more

PIE concluded that institutional factors are decisive for extending working lives. It pointed to flexible employment arrangements for older workers as one lever. In Austria, 32 percent of people aged 55–64 work part-time, compared with 8 percent in Poland. The institute’s analysis draws on Eurostat mortality data and self-assessed health from the EU-SILC survey.

What the numbers measure

The working-life indicator captures the expected number of years a 15-year-old will remain in the labour force. The EU-wide average of 37.5 years masks wide variation, with a gap of several years between the leaders (above 40) and the laggards. Poland’s 36 years puts it in the lower tier, but the 3.3-year rise since 2015 is the story’s second half: it outpaced the EU average gain of 2.7 years and narrowed the distance to the European midpoint.