Portugal Now Counts 281,000 Workers Aged 65 and Over, a Sixth More Than a Year Ago and Two and a Half Times the 2015 Figure
INE's Labour Force Survey found 281,300 people aged 65 or over in work in the second quarter, up 16.8 percent in a year, and Social Security counted almost 129,000 still paying in. What the data show, and the rules for working past pension age.
Rising living costs and low pensions are pushing more people in Portugal to keep working past 65, SIC Notícias and RTP reported on Saturday. The official figures behind the story come from the government's report on the sustainability of Social Security, published this week with the 2027 State Budget, and from the Labour Force Survey. They confirm a sharp rise, although neither gives a reason for it.
What the official numbers show
The report counts 128,958 contributors aged 65 or over in December 2025, of whom 29,472 were 70 or older. Last year's edition counted 113,417 in December 2024, so the increase is 15,541, or 13.7 percent. Over the same year the number of all contributors aged 20 or over rose 3.2 percent, to about 4.86 million. The over-65s are 2.7 percent of contributors, up from 2.4 percent.
The wider measure is the Inquérito ao Emprego (Labour Force Survey) of the Instituto Nacional de Estatística (INE, Statistics Portugal), which counts everyone in work. Its revised series puts employed people aged 65 and over at 111,900 in the second quarter of 2015 and 157,200 five years later. The same survey, as published by Eurostat, puts them at 231,100 in the second quarter of 2024, 240,800 a year later and 281,300 in the second quarter of 2026. That is a rise of 16.8 percent in a single year, and about two and a half times the 2015 level.
Part of this is demography, but the share in work is rising too. Eurostat puts Portugal's employment rate for people aged 65 to 74 at 16.1 percent in 2025, up from 12.9 percent in 2021, the first year of the current survey method. The EU average was 12.0 percent, and nine member states ranked higher, led by Estonia at 29.5 percent.
The rules if you work past pension age
The normal pension age in the Social Security general scheme is 66 years and 9 months in 2026, under Portaria n.º 358/2024/1 (a ministerial order), and rises to 66 years and 11 months in 2027 under Portaria n.º 476/2025/1. People with more than 40 years of contributions can retire earlier without a penalty.
An old-age pension can be combined with earnings from work in Portugal or abroad, according to the practical guide of the Instituto da Segurança Social (Social Security Institute). The main exceptions are a pension converted from an absolute invalidity pension, and early retirees, who for three years may not work for the company or group they retired from. Pensioners who keep working and paying contributions get an automatic top-up to their pension, paid the following year. The Solidarity Supplement for the Elderly can also be combined with an old-age pension, the guide says.
Employees face one more rule, in Article 348 of the Código do Trabalho (Labour Code). Thirty days after both sides know a worker has retired on an old-age pension, the contract becomes a six-month fixed-term one, renewable without limit. The same happens when a worker reaches 70 without retiring. Either side can end it with notice, 60 days from the employer or 15 from the worker, and no compensation is due.
What it means for foreign residents
Foreign nationals made up 18.2 percent of everyone paying contributions in 2025, the budget report says, though they are concentrated between the ages of 20 and 40. Neither source breaks down working over-65s by nationality. For anyone with a short record in Portugal, the 15-year minimum for a pension matters most: periods paid into a foreign scheme covering old age can count towards it, the Social Security guide says.
