Amount of pensions, retirement age, purchasing power... Figures on retirees in France

The French had gone further. Although the pension reform was enacted last spring, pushing back the retirement age to 64, working people had already exceeded the previous threshold set at 62 since 2010. According to a publication by Drees (Research Department, studies, evaluation and statistics), the average retirement age reached 62 years and 7 months in 2021 for people residing in France. With a small difference between men (62 years and 2 months) and women (63 years). In eleven years, the age has therefore increased by 2 years and 1 month. However, the study indicates that the evolution has been slower since 2016: the postponement of the legal age for canceling the discount, which becomes effective that year, has had less significant consequences than the minimum retirement age. . Which finished producing its effects in 2018.

In detail, 27% of people aged 61 were already retired at the end of 2021, while 15% of French people over 65 were not yet retired. Percentages to extrapolate on the 17 million people who had retired status with at least one plan. Among the latter, 4.4 million people benefited from a survivor's pension - the only source of income for 1 million of them. Women thus represent 88% of the beneficiaries of this pension under private law.

Regarding the purchasing power of retirees, it fell by 1.3% at the end of 2021 in a context of high inflation. The average income being 1,531 euros gross monthly, it increased by 1.5% compared to December 2020, but fell by 1.3% in constant euros because consumer prices increased by 2.8% during this period. Retirement, finally, is not immune to inequalities between women and men. The former have a pension 40% lower than that of the latter.