World Bank recommended the Uzbekistan authorities raise the retirement age, with Uzbekistan remaining the only former Soviet republic where the retirement age is at 55 for women and 60 for men.
This is stated in the World Bank’s review “Improving the efficiency of spending on human capital and water infrastructure”, published in December 2022.
According to the WB, during reforms of the 1990s, many CIS countries increased the retirement age by 2-3 years. A second wave of raise began as countries embarked on long-delayed retirement age reforms (Ukraine, Belarus, Russian Federation) in the 2000s. Those countries that previously raised the retirement age, at this stage, focused on the gradual equalization of the retirement age of women and men (Azerbaijan, Armenia, Moldova, Lithuania and Kazakhstan). In Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Azerbaijan, the retirement age is raised to 65 for women and men.
“During the pandemic and high unemployment, it is not advisable to start raising the retirement age. But as practice shows, from the moment a decision is made to the start of its implementation, it is advisable to give employees of pre-retirement age time to adapt so that they can adjust their life plans.
The best option would be to adopt a decision within the framework of the national social protection strategy for 202-2030, providing for a slow (3-4 months per year) increase in the retirement age to 65 years, starting from 2025.
Reportedly, in the future this will gradually shift the border between working and retirement age, reducing the pressure of demographic changes. It is very important for the country to have time to do this before the demographic growth potential of the labor force is exhausted (mid-2040s), since this is already a matter of national competitiveness.
“Neighboring countries have significantly higher birth rates and retirement age, which gives them some advantages. In the long term, raising the retirement age will help ensure the financial sustainability of the pension system and public finances,” the WB experts concluded.
