The general retirement age in France is 62, but you also need to have worked for 42 years to get a full pension.
There are three basic systems and then mandatory additional plans with points systems that look different depending on the industry and agreement. There are 42 different pension plans.
The average Frenchman retires at the age of 62 years and four months, according to figures from 2020 (in Sweden it is just over 64 years). The differences are, however, large between different arrangements. The average pension is equivalent to SEK 15,700 (2020).
Within the public sector there are certain agreements that stand out. Around 40,000 people who work in public transport in Paris, for example, have the right to retire from the age of 52.
The current government initially wanted to raise the retirement age to 65, but has since lowered it to 64. The increase will take place gradually until 2030. The government also wants to bring forward a one-year increase in the number of years you need to work for a full pension. The guaranteed pension must be increased and the number of plans must be reduced.
It was the long-time president François Mitterrand (Socialist Party) who lowered the retirement age from 65 to 60 in 1982. The right-wing president Jacques Chirac wanted to introduce a universal system in 1995, but was met with huge protests and later withdrew it. Major protests also met proposals from Nicolas Sarkozy in 2010, but then a two-year increase in the retirement age was still pushed through.