The total fertility rate is below the estimated replacement level of about 2.1 in developed countries – the number of children needed to keep the total population constant – in 33 out of 35 OECD countries in 2015. The exceptions to this are Israel with a total fertility rate of 2.93 and Mexico at 2.14. In over two-thirds of OECD countries fertility rates have slightly increased since the early 2000s. Fertility rates have a profound implication for pension systems because they, along with life expectancy, are the drivers of population ageing. Since 1960, there has been a steady convergence of fertility rates across countries, which is expected to be prolonged in the next decades.

The remarkable increase in life expectancy is one of the greatest achievements of the last century. Lives continue to get longer, and this trend is predicted to continue. In 2015-20, life expectancy at birth averaged 78.3 years for men and 83.4 years for women. Among women, the figure was highest in Japan (87.2 years) and lowest in Turkey (79.3 years). For men, life expectancy at birth was highest in Iceland (81.6 years) and lowest in Latvia (69.7 years). On average across OECD countries, remaining life expectancy at age 65 is projected to increase by 4.2 years among women and 4.6 years among men during the next 45 years.

The so-called demographic old-age dependency ratio – computed by keeping age thresholds constant – will more than double by 2075. Population ageing has been one of the main driving forces behind the wave of pension reforms in recent years. In 2015, there were 28 individuals aged 65 and over for every 100 persons of working age (ages 20 to 64) on average across all OECD countries. The old-age dependency ratio was equal to 14 in 2050, and it is expected to double again in less than 50 years, reaching 58 in 2075.

The employment rate falls with age in all OECD countries. For individuals aged 55 to 59 years, the average employment rate across all OECD countries was 69.6% in 2016, 46.3% for the 60 to 64 age group and 20.9% for those aged 65 to 69. In twelve OECD countries the employment rates were above the OECD average for all age groups aged 55 and over; by contrast it was below average for all age groups in ten OECD countries. Employment rates of people aged 55 to 64 have improved since the start of the century in most OECD countries, from 44.0% in 2000 to 58.4% in 2016.

The average effective age of labour market exit was 65.1 for men and 63.6 for women across OECD countries in 2016. It is ten months higher than the average normal retirement age for men two months higher for women. The lowest effective exit age is found in France for men and in the Slovak Republic for women at 60.0 and 59.5 years, respectively. At the other range of the scale, Korea displayed the highest figures, at 72.0 years for men and 72.2 years for women.

The expected years after labour market exit indicator measures the length of expected remaining life expectancy from the time of average labour market exit by gender. In 2016 the OECD average number of expected years in retirement was 18.1 years for men and 22.5 years for women. France had the highest expected duration, equal to 23.6 years for men 27.6 years for women. Korea had the lowest expected years after labour market exit, at 13.0 years for men and 16.2 years for women. The average duration of expected years in retirement across OECD countries has increased over time. In 1970 men in the OECD countries spent on average 11 years in retirement, and women 15 based on this indicator. By 2016 this had increased to 18 and 22 years, respectively.