Work while you can: retirement in Ukraine will become an unattainable dream

In 2026, to retire at age 60, Ukrainians will need at least 33 years of insurance experience. Today, the average insurance experience is only 32 years and 9 months, which indicates that many will have to work longer to receive pension payments on time.

Since 2017, the insurance experience requirements for retirement at 60 have increased each year in Ukraine, and they plan to raise them to 35 years. For those who do not have time to accumulate the required experience, the possibility of retiring at 63 or even 65 is being considered.

According to the Pension Fund of Ukraine, the average length of insurance experience of people who will receive an old-age pension in 2025 will be 32 years and 9 months.

The requirements for retirement at 63 are also increasing dynamically: if in 2017 the limit was 15 years of experience, by 2028 it will increase to 25 years. At the same time, for retirement at 65, the requirement will remain unchanged – 15 years of experience.

Increasing the experience requirements will affect the number of Ukrainians who will be forced to continue working. Earlier, time spent in official jobs without paying taxes was counted toward experience; now, only the time for which contributions were paid to the Pension Fund is taken into account.

Thus, for many people, receiving a pension at 60 will become practically unattainable, and they will have to work until 63-65 to ensure financial support in old age.