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Americans retire 8 years later than workers in China—here's the retirement age around the world

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Retirement in America is changing rapidly
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Retirement in America is changing rapidly

The typical American leaves the workforce at age 63. Meanwhile, in China, the average retirement age is decidedly younger: 55.

That's according to Aperion Care, which created an interactive map showing the official and average retirement ages for people around the world. The average age at which employees leave the workforce ranges from 49 in the United Arab Emirates to 67 in Norway.

While China boasts the second lowest age for retirement, the country has set a plan for gradually raising the statutory retirement age.

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In general, the average retirement age is on the rise across the globe.

"Pretty much every country [is raising the retirement age]," economics professor Arie Kapteyn tells Boston's NPR News Station WBUR. "Definitely every country in the developed world. And the reason is the same as in the U.S.: people are getting healthier, they live longer. Therefore, they need to be supported for a longer period and at some point, that just becomes unsustainable."

Check out Aperion's interactive map, which highlights the official retirement age across the world.

For various featured countries — including the U.S., China, Japan, Norway and Russia — Aperion also includes the average retirement age broken down by gender, how the retirement age has changed over time and the percent of the population that is over 65.

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