The expected length of working life in Portugal stood at 36 years and eight months in 2015.
This was slightly more than the average length of 35 years and four months across all the European Union countries, according to date released by Eurostat on Monday.
The people who worked the longest were the Swedes, clocking up 41.2 years. In general, it was the northern Europeans who put in the most years of their lives. The Dutch worked 39.9 years, the Danes 39.2 years, the Brits 38.6 years and the Germans 38 years.
For everyone, however, the expected duration of work increased in the decade from 2005 to 2015. On average, the increase was by one year and nine months.
While there was an increase in Portugal from 36.5 years to 36.8, the change of 0.3% meant that very little had changed.
But in those ten years, it transpired that men’s working years dropped by .06% while working years for women went up by 1.3%.
The Portuguese put in more working years than their neighbours. Spanish people worked an average of 34.9 years, the same amount of years as the French. Both countries saw an increase of 2% over the decade.
The Italians enjoyed the fewest working years, namely 30.9 years. The Greeks racked up 32.3 years.
