152,000 employees now work beyond state pension age
In the second quarter of 2026, 152,000 employees, 1.7% of the total, were above state pension (AOW) age, up from 1.2% in early 2018, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reports; real estate and transport have the highest shares.
In the second quarter of 2026, 1.7% of all employees in the Netherlands, 152,000 people, were above state pension age (AOW), according to CBS. In the first quarter of 2018 the share was 1.2%, or 96,000 employees.
The rise comes despite the AOW age going up in steps to 67 since 2013. Men are more likely to keep working: 2.3% of male employees were above AOW age, against 1.1% of female employees. Since early 2018 both shares have risen by about 0.5 percentage points.
Older employees are most common in real estate rental and trade, and in transport
%
Older employees are most common in real estate rental and trade, and in transport (%). Highest: Real estate rental and trade, 4.3; lowest: Public administration, 0.6; 19 items. Source: CBS.
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| Item | % |
|---|---|
| Real estate rental and trade | 4.3 |
| Transport and storage | 3.6 |
| Specialist business services | 2.9 |
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing | 2.9 |
| Other services | 2.5 |
| Culture, sport and recreation | 2.4 |
| Financial services | 2.2 |
| Rental and other business services | 2.2 |
| Trade | 1.9 |
| Construction | 1.5 |
| Industry | 1.3 |
| Energy supply | 1.3 |
| Education | 1.3 |
| Water and waste management | 1.2 |
| Health and social care | 1.2 |
| Hospitality | 1.1 |
| Mining | 1 |
| Information and communication | 0.7 |
| Public administration | 0.6 |
Public administration and government services (0.6%) and information and communication (0.7%) have the lowest shares.
In the second quarter, just over 20,000 people above AOW age started work in a sector, 1.3% of all new entrants. About half of all entrants come from another sector; the rest had no job as an employee a year earlier.
People above AOW age make up 2.2% of those who stopped working as employees, while the 55-to-AOW-age group makes up 14.4% of all leavers. The largest group leaving is employees under 25, who also often enter a sector, after finishing studies or moving from another one.
Most people aged 55 and over who leave are retiring, early or otherwise. Of those who leave after reaching AOW age, 9% take a job in another sector. In the 55-to-AOW-age group, 37% leave for retirement, 22% for a benefit and 20% for work in another sector.
The two sectors with the most older workers, real estate rental and trade (4.3%) and transport and storage (3.6%), are the only ones where the share is around 4% or more, CBS says.
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CBS (Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek)
Statistics Netherlands, the independent government body that produces the official statistics on the Dutch economy and society.
AOW (Algemene Ouderdomswet)
The AOW is the Dutch state pension, a basic old-age pension paid by the government to people who have lived or worked in the Netherlands. It is paid from the age at which a person becomes entitled to it, regardless of their earnings history, and it is funded from current contributions. Because it is a state pension, it is separate from the employer-based supplementary pensions that many workers also build up.