In the first half of 2026, nearly a quarter more people aged 66 and over were employed in Belgium compared to the same period in 2025, according to HR firm Acerta. This increase is largely related to a new form of pension bonus, which allows employees to build up a higher pension.
Currently, 2.03% of the working population is over the statutory pension age of 66. The number of 66-plus workers who voluntarily continued working increased during the first half of 2026, growing almost four times as fast as in the previous year.
In the first half of 2026, 2.03% of all employees were aged 66 or older. In the same period in 2025, this was 1.60% – meaning that the number of working 66-plus individuals increased by 24.4% within a year.
Consequently, the number of 66-plus workers voluntarily continuing employment grew nearly four times faster in the first half of 2026 than in the same period the previous year.
The figures are mainly a result of the new pension bonus introduced by the Federal Government this year, which enables employees to accrue a higher pension if they postpone their retirement beyond the statutory pension age.
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The new pension bonus was published in the Official Gazette on 1 June 2026 but is effective retroactively from 1 January 2026.
In the longer term, the Belgian labour market is gradually ageing: the average age increased from 42.4 to 44.1 years between 2018 and 2026. By mid-2026, 12% of employees are aged 60 or over.
The average age of clerical workers is rising more than twice as fast as that of manual workers. Compared to 2018, white-collar workers in 2026 are on average 25.7 months older, while blue-collar workers are 10.5 months older.
While in 2018 manual workers were, on average, 1.8 years older than clerical workers, in 2026 they are only 0.6 years older. The age gap is therefore narrowing rapidly.
"The faster increase in the average age of clerical workers compared to manual workers is probably due to the nature of the work both groups perform," said Ellen Van Grunderbeek, pension expert at Acerta.
"Physically demanding jobs among manual workers lead to earlier exits from the labour market, whereas clerical workers find it easier to work longer. Manual workers generally enter the labour market earlier, which also means they can retire early more often," she added.
For this study, Acerta analysed data on 390,000 employees across 31,000 employers in the Belgian private sector.
