That’s according to an analysis of Eurostat data by the Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research released on 11 December.

“In Luxembourg, in 2017, less than 40% of the people aged between 55 and 64 were still working,” Liser, a publicly funded research organisation, stated. The figure rose from 26% in 2001.

Across the EU28, Greece had the lowest proportion of older workers last year (38.3%), while Sweden had the highest (76.4%).

The EU has a goal of 50% in order to keep pension schemes solvent.

In a separate analysis, Liser reported that only 25% of Luxembourg companies employed workers aged 50 and over.

The figure was higher for smaller outfits: 41% for firms with 1 employee and 28% for firms with 2-4 workers. It dropped to 23% for firms with 5-24 workers, Liser noted. The rate was 24% for firms with 500 or more staff.