Retirement is the time to put your feet up and enjoy life after a career of hard work. But while it’s great news that we’re all living longer, with the turn of each day we reach closer to our retirement ages. The thought of finally finishing the hard graft, putting your career to a satisfying end, and putting your feet up is something we all look forward to.

But who gets to enjoy their retirement for the longest time? Here at ComparetheMarket.com we have found and ranked the countries with the longest and shortest retirement spans.

Every country will have different laws pertaining to retirement and here at ComparetheMarket.com we have analysed the retirement laws, policies and pension data from 35 countries around the world to determine the countries with the longest lengths of retirement. By calculating the life expectancy measured at the effective retirement age, researchers at comparethemarket.com were able to come to a surplus of findings.

From the research France was found to be the country with the longest period of time living in retirement, with an average total of 24 years and 9 months being spent in retirement. In second place is Spain with an average retirement length of 24 years and 1 month with Greece following closely behind in 3rd place.

The retirement age in Greece is something that has changed throughout the years. At one point retirement was as low as 55 after only 30 years of work. This has since been increased to 62 years of age. This hasn’t stopped them from still being one of the best countries for a long retirement, with the average retiree enjoying just over 24 years in retirement. Spain - the land of the setting sun - etches out in front of Greece ever so slightly with an average of 24.15 years spent in retirement. The popular retirement destination for many Brits has a retirement age of 61, and with over 24 years of expected retirement living, you will have plenty of time to enjoy the sun and seas of Spain! From their amazing villas to the wonderful community, Spanish retirement really does allow for you to enjoy a whole lifetime of fun.

On the other hand, however, there are many countries around the world that do not have this luxury of having over 20 years to spend in retirement. Looking at the other end of the table, the research revealed that South Korea is the country where you’ll spend the least amount of time in retirement with a low average length of just 14.6 years. Many South Koreans won’t be able to retire until they reach their country’s retirement age of 72.3 years, and given that residents can start unrestricted work from 18 years, there will be a substantial number of workers who will be working for 54 years before they begin to see their retirement.

Over in North America, the situation is not so different as Mexico takes second place as the country with the shortest retirement span. Mexico has an effective retirement age of 68.9 which is almost 4 whole years sooner than South Korea. However, even with that gap they only get to enjoy their retirement for around half a year longer. Given that they both have the same legal working age, the lack of a difference could be due to a number of external reasons.