Data report · Updated 4 October 2026

Retirement Statistics Australia 2026

When Australians retire, what they live on and how long it has to last: the Age Pension, superannuation, housing, work after 65 and retirement villages, drawn from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Services Australia, the Department of Social Services, APRA, the ATO and Treasury. Each figure is dated and sourced.

James Keane
By James KeaneFounder and Editor, Aged Care Checker · Every figure was read from its primary source on 4 October 2026; where the latest official figure is older, we give its date.
At a glanceFor journalistsRetirement ageAge PensionSuperannuationCost of retirementOlder workersHousing & wealthRetirement villagesPopulation & life expectancySources

Retirement in Australia, at a glance

The headline figures, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Services Australia, the Department of Social Services, APRA and the ATO.

4.5mretired Australians aged 45 and over, 42% of that age groupABS, 2024–25
63.8average age of people who retired during 2024–25 (men 64.9, women 62.7)ABS, 2024–25
2.72mpeople receiving the Age Pension; 60% get the full rateDSS, June 2026
$1,237.70maximum single Age Pension a fortnight, including supplements, from 20 September 2026Services Australia
$4.77tntotal superannuation assets at 30 June 2026, up 9.5% in a yearAPRA, June 2026
$203,326median super balance for people aged 60–64 who have superATO, 30 June 2024
4.84mAustralians aged 65 and over, 17.5% of the populationABS, 30 June 2025
20.1 / 22.7more years a 65-year-old man and woman can expect to liveABS life tables 2022–2024
Three different "retirement ages". The ABS publishes three figures that are often confused. 57.3 is the average age at which everyone now retired left work, including people who stopped decades ago. 63.8 is the average for people who retired in the latest year. 65.6 is when people still working say they intend to retire. Use 63.8 for when Australians retire now.

Key facts for journalists

Twelve verified figures you can quote, each linked to its section and source. Figures from industry bodies are labelled as such.

  1. People who retired in 2024–25 did so at 63.8 on average. Those still working expect to retire at 65.6, and the Age Pension starts at 67. ABS; Services Australia
  2. 4.5 million Australians aged 45 and over are retired, 42% of that age group. ABS, 2024–25
  3. Only 33% of retirees left their last job because they reached retirement age. 13% stopped because of their own illness, injury or disability, at an average age of 56.9. ABS, 2024–25
  4. The full single Age Pension is $1,237.70 a fortnight, about $32,180 a year. That is about $4,400 below ASFA's "modest" budget for a single homeowner and about $24,000 below "comfortable". Services Australia; ASFA (industry body)
  5. 2.72 million people receive the Age Pension. 60% get the full rate, and 27.6% of recipients, about 749,000 people, do not own a home. DSS, June 2026
  6. Super assets reached $4.77 trillion in June 2026, yet the median balance at 60–64 was $203,326, under a third of the $630,000 ASFA says a single person needs for a comfortable retirement. APRA; ATO; ASFA (industry body)
  7. Women aged 60–64 have a median super balance 26% below men's ($174,655 against $236,126), and 17.6% of women that age have no super. ATO 2023–24; ASFA (industry body)
  8. A 65-year-old man can expect another 20.1 years and a woman another 22.7. About 48% of men and 62% of women now live to 85. ABS life tables 2022–2024
  9. About 799,000 Australians aged 65 and over were in work in August 2026, nearly four times the 203,000 of August 2006. ABS Labour Force
  10. Households headed by someone 65 or older hold 33.6% of Australian household wealth, up from 25.8% in 2003–04. ABS, 2021–22
  11. 67% of retirees who rent privately live in poverty, against 11% of retired homeowners. Outright home ownership among retirees fell from 75% to 66% between 2003 and 2023. 2026 Intergenerational Report, citing Grattan Institute and HILDA
  12. People enter retirement villages at 76 on average and stay 8.8 years. A two-bedroom unit averages $711,000, 61% of the local median house price. PwC-RLC Retirement Census 2025 (industry survey)

When Australians retire

The ABS surveys people aged 45 and over every two years about when and why they stopped work.

Retirement age

ABS Retirement and Retirement Intentions, 2024–25
MeasureAllMenWomen
Average age of people who retired in 2024–2563.864.962.7
Average intended retirement age, people still working65.665.965.3
Average age at retirement, everyone now retired57.360.055.2
Retired people aged 45+4.5 million2.0 million2.5 million
Share of people 45+ who are retired42%40%44%
156,000 people retired during 2024–25, 55% of them women. 294,000 intend to retire within two years and 806,000 within five; 40% of people who intend to retire do not know when. Tasmania has the highest share of people 45+ retired (50%) and the Northern Territory the lowest (31%). Source: ABS, released 31 October 2025.

Why people stop, and what they live on

Retirees aged 45+, 2024–25
Main reason for leaving last jobShareAverage age
Reached retirement age or eligible for super33%64.4
Own sickness, injury or disability13%56.9
Retrenched, dismissed or no work available6%58.8

Main source of income at retirement

SourceMenWomen
Government pension or allowance42%41%
Superannuation, annuity or allocated pension35%23%
No personal income5%17%
30% of retired women relied on a partner's income at retirement, against 9% of retired men. Super was the main source of income for 28% of retirees, up from 20% in 2014–15. Source: ABS Retirement and Retirement Intentions, 2024–25.

The Age Pension

The Age Pension is payable from age 67 and is indexed every 20 March and 20 September.

$1,237.70single rate a fortnight, including supplements, about $32,180 a yearServices Australia, 20 Sep 2026
$1,866.00couple combined a fortnight, about $48,516 a yearServices Australia, 20 Sep 2026
2,718,425Age Pension recipients; 55.6% are womenDSS, June 2026
$68.7bnBudget cost of income support for seniors in 2026–27, rising to $77.0bn by 2029–30Budget Paper No. 1 2026–27

Rates from 20 September 2026

Per fortnight
ComponentSingleCouple eachCouple
Maximum basic rate$1,135.40$855.90$1,711.80
Maximum Pension Supplement$88.20$66.50$133.00
Energy Supplement$14.10$10.60$21.20
Total$1,237.70$933.00$1,866.00

Assets test

SituationFull pension toCut-off
Single homeowner$333,000$745,750
Single non-homeowner$600,000$1,012,750
Couple, homeowners$499,000$1,121,000
Couple, non-homeowners$766,000$1,388,000
Couple limits are combined; the cut-off is where a part pension stops. Annual amounts are the fortnightly rate multiplied by 26 (our calculation). Income test: the pension reduces by 50 cents for each dollar of income over $226 a fortnight for singles, and couples over $396 combined; it cuts out at $2,701.40 a fortnight for a single and $4,128.00 combined for a couple. Sources: Services Australia, rates, assets test and income test pages, updated 20 September 2026.

Who receives it

Age Pension recipients, June 2026 quarter
GroupRecipientsShare
All recipients2,718,425100%
Women1,510,65555.6%
Men1,207,77044.4%
Full rate1,631,81060.0%
Part rate1,068,09039.3%
Homeowners1,969,10072.4%
Non-homeowners749,33027.6%
Renting privately287,68010.6%
Aged 90 and over177,5506.5%
Shares are our calculation from the published counts. 56% of all Australians aged 65 and over received the Age Pension in March 2025, down from 70% in March 2012; among 65–69-year-olds the share fell from 60% to 26% (AIHW). 67.0% of people of pension age received the Age Pension or another income support payment in 2024–25 (DSS Annual Report). Treasury projects Age and Service Pension spending to fall from 2.3% to 2.0% of GDP by 2062–63 (Intergenerational Report 2023). Sources: DSS Benefit and Payment Recipient Demographics, June 2026; AIHW; Budget 2026–27.

Superannuation

Compulsory super began in 1992. The Superannuation Guarantee reached 12% of wages on 1 July 2025.

$4.77tntotal super assets at 30 June 2026 ($4,767.2 billion)APRA, June 2026
$236.3bncontributions in the year to June 2026; $148.2bn was paid out in benefitsAPRA, June 2026
12%Superannuation Guarantee rate since 1 July 2025ATO
26%gap between women's and men's median balance at ages 60–64ATO 2023–24, our calculation

Median super balance by age

People with a super balance, 30 June 2024
AgeMenWomenAll
50–54$192,196$134,309$161,375
55–59$220,560$154,732$185,120
60–64$236,126$174,655$203,326
65–69$230,766$207,187$218,631
70–74$227,027$228,978$227,982
75+$200,477$195,201$197,878
All ages$71,914$57,688$63,339
Average balances are much higher: $301,151 at 55–59, $371,379 at 60–64 and $437,422 at 65–69. The median is the middle balance and is the better guide to a typical person; averages are pulled up by a small number of very large accounts. These figures exclude people with no super, so the typical balance across everyone is lower. Source: ATO Taxation Statistics 2023–24, Snapshot Table 5.

Coverage, rules and system size

MeasureValue
People aged 60–64 with any super86.2% (men 90.2%, women 82.4%)
People aged 65–69 with any super74.1% (men 78.4%, women 70.1%)
Self-managed super funds680,301, holding $1,107.2 billion
Member accounts in APRA-regulated funds23.6 million (June 2025)
People holding two or more accountsabout 4 million
General transfer balance cap, 2026–27$2.1 million
Division 296 taxextra 15% on earnings above $3 million, from 1 July 2026

Downsizer contributions

YearPeopleContributed
2022–2316,000$4.25bn
2023–2417,300$4.59bn
2024–2520,100$5.37bn
2025–26 (provisional)19,700$5.24bn
About 123,000 people have put about $31.8 billion into super by selling their home since the downsizer scheme began in July 2018 (our sum of the ATO's rounded annual figures); 57.1% of 2025–26 contributors were women and the average contribution was $266,000. Coverage shares are from ASFA, an industry body, using ATO and ABS data at June 2024. Sources: APRA; ATO; ASFA, Superannuation Account Balances 2026.

What retirement costs

There is no official budget standard for retirement in Australia. The most widely quoted is published each quarter by ASFA, the superannuation industry association.

ASFA Retirement Standard, June quarter 2026

Annual budget for homeowners aged 65–84. Industry body figures.
LifestyleSingleCouple
Comfortable$56,166$78,998
Modest$36,548$52,690
Modest, renting$51,418$69,376
Full Age Pension from 20 Sep 2026 (annualised)$32,180$48,516
The full single Age Pension is $4,368 a year below ASFA's modest budget and $23,986 below its comfortable budget (our calculation). For a single renter the gap to a modest lifestyle is $19,238 before Rent Assistance. Sources: ASFA Retirement Standard; Services Australia.

Savings ASFA says are needed at 67

Assumes a part Age Pension and that savings are drawn down fully. Industry body figures.
LifestyleSingleCouple
Comfortable$630,000$730,000
Modest$110,000$120,000
Modest, renting privately$340,000$385,000
By comparison the median super balance at ages 60–64 is $203,326 for those with super (ATO, June 2024). Treasury's 2020 Retirement Income Review used a different yardstick, replacing 65–75% of working-life disposable income, and found most people with typical working lives would exceed it. Sources: ASFA Retirement Standard; ATO; Retirement Income Review.

Older Australians at work

More people are working past 65 than at any time on record.

Twenty years of change

ABS Labour Force, original series
MeasureAugust 2006August 2026
Employed, aged 65+203,200798,900
Participation rate, aged 65+7.7%16.4%
Participation rate, men 65+11.8%19.8%
Participation rate, women 65+4.4%13.5%
Employed, aged 55–641,256,4002,121,200
Participation rate, aged 55–6457.7%70.0%
Participation rate, women 55–6447.7%65.2%
Monthly figures by age are not seasonally adjusted and move around; averaged over the year to August 2026, participation at 65+ was 15.9%. In March 2026, 54% of employed people aged 65+ worked part-time. Source: ABS Labour Force, Australia, August 2026, table 11.

Coming back from retirement

People aged 45+ in the labour force who had previously retired, 2024–25
Main reason for returningPeople
Bored, needed something to do43,800
Financial need38,700
An interesting opportunity came up18,400
Asked back by a former employer10,700
138,500 people had returned to the labour force after retiring. The estimate for "interesting opportunity" has a high sampling error. The industry with the highest intended retirement age is agriculture, forestry and fishing, at 68.9 years. Source: ABS Retirement and Retirement Intentions, 2024–25, table 12.

Housing, wealth and poverty

Whether a retiree owns their home shapes their retirement more than any other single factor. The most recent ABS household survey on tenure and wealth is for 2019–20.

How older households live

Households by age of reference person, 2019–20
Tenure65–7475+All households
Own outright68.1%79.4%29.5%
Own with a mortgage13.4%3.7%36.8%
Rent privately9.5%6.0%26.2%
All renters16.0%12.9%31.4%
Pension is main household income47.2%67.4%22.3%
43.0% of households aged 55–64 still had a mortgage. More recently, the 2026 Intergenerational Report says outright ownership among retirees fell from 75% in 2003 to 66% in 2023 and that the share renting privately has doubled in 20 years, citing the HILDA survey. Sources: ABS Housing Occupancy and Costs 2019–20, table 6.1; ABS Household Income and Wealth 2019–20; 2026 Intergenerational Report.

Wealth and poverty

MeasureValuePeriod
Median net worth, households aged 65+$824,5002019–20
Mean net worth, households aged 65+$1,457,3002019–20
Median net worth, all households$579,2002019–20
Share of household wealth held by 65+ households33.6%2021–22
Same share in 2003–0425.8%2003–04
Retirees renting privately who live in poverty67%via 2026 IGR
Retired homeowners who live in poverty11%via 2026 IGR
Income poverty rate, people over 65 (OECD measure)22.6%2020
OECD average on the same measure14.8%2020
The two renter and homeowner poverty figures are from the Grattan Institute as quoted by Treasury in the 2026 Intergenerational Report. The OECD rate counts income below half the national median and ignores home ownership, which flatters countries with low ownership; on that measure Australia's rate has fallen 11 points since 2011. Sources: ABS Household Income and Wealth 2019–20; ABS Distribution of Household Income, Consumption and Wealth 2021–22 (share is our calculation); 2026 Intergenerational Report; OECD Pensions at a Glance 2025.

Moving and downsizing

Households aged 65+, 2019–20
MeasureValue
Did not move home in the previous five years82.5%
Lived in their home 20 years or more44.9%
Movers whose main reason was wanting a smaller home22.0%
Same, among movers aged 75+29.3%
Source: ABS Housing Mobility and Conditions, 2019–20.

Homelessness among older people

MeasureValue
People aged 55+ homeless on Census night 202119,378
Of whom women7,325
People aged 55+ homeless on Census night 200612,461
Clients aged 55+ helped by homelessness services, 2024–25about 31,700
Their share of all clients (6.1% in 2011–12)11%
The count of women is our sum of the Census age groups. Sources: ABS Estimating Homelessness, Census 2021; AIHW Specialist Homelessness Services 2024–25.

Retirement villages

There is no official count of retirement villages. The figures below are from the industry's own annual survey, run by PwC for the Retirement Living Council, covering 1,123 villages and about 100,000 units.

Residents and tenure

PwC-RLC Retirement Census 2025. Industry survey.
Measure20252024
Average age on entry7675
Average age of residents8181
Average stay, independent living units8.8 years9.0 years
Average stay, serviced apartments5.2 years4.7 years
Vacancy rate6%4%
60% of residents are women. 37% of people who leave move to aged care. 26,825 names were on waitlists at 31 December 2025, though people may be on more than one list. 30% of villages have residential aged care on site or next door. The industry says more than 249,000 people live in retirement communities. Source: PwC-RLC Retirement Census 2025.

Prices and fees

PwC-RLC Retirement Census 2025. Industry survey.
Measure20252024
Average two-bedroom unit price$711,000$651,000
As a share of the local median house price61%59%
Sydney metro, average two-bedroom unit$1,207,000—
Tasmania, average two-bedroom unit$618,000—
Average monthly service fee, two-bedroom unit$645—
Average maximum deferred management fee33%—
The survey is voluntary and not audited, and median house prices are supplied by Cotality. About 17,700 new units are forecast between 2026 and 2031. Source: PwC-RLC Retirement Census 2025.

The older population and how long retirement lasts

Australia has 4.84 million people aged 65 and over, and the number aged 85 and over is projected to triple in 40 years.

Older Australians by state and territory

Estimated resident population, 30 June 2025
StatePopulationAged 65+Share 65+Aged 85+
New South Wales8,587,3691,542,70018.0%199,252
Victoria7,064,0411,199,84617.0%156,745
Queensland5,670,203986,98417.4%111,752
South Australia1,901,652389,62520.5%51,080
Western Australia3,044,966496,00216.3%59,787
Tasmania577,827129,16022.4%14,837
Northern Territory265,97825,4819.6%1,668
Australian Capital Territory484,68168,03414.0%8,350
Australia27,601,7394,838,98417.5%603,581
Tasmania and South Australia are the oldest states. Australia had 2,258,609 people aged 75 and over and 7,225 aged 100 or more. Source: ABS National, state and territory population, March 2026 release; counts are our sums of the single-year-of-age series.

Life expectancy and what comes next

MeasureMenWomen
Life expectancy at birth81.185.1
Years remaining at 6520.122.7
Years remaining at 67, the pension age18.521.0
Years remaining at 856.47.4
Share who live to 8548.3%62.3%

Projections

MeasureNow2060s
Share of population aged 65+17.8%24.8% (2065–66)
People aged 85+625,0001.9 million (2065–66)
Median age38.645.0 (2062–63)
1.16 million people aged 65 and over live alone (27.6% of those living at home; 35.1% of women and 19.0% of men), and about 758,000 are themselves carers. Sources: ABS Life expectancy 2022–2024, table 9; 2026 Intergenerational Report; ABS Disability, Ageing and Carers 2022.

Sources and method

All figures are taken from the primary documents listed here, as published at 4 October 2026. Government sources are used wherever they exist; figures from industry bodies (ASFA, the Retirement Living Council) and the OECD are labelled where they appear. We do not estimate figures that have not been published; where we have calculated a share or an annual amount from published numbers, the source line says so.

  1. ABS, Retirement and Retirement Intentions, Australia, 2024–25.
  2. Services Australia, How much Age Pension you can get (rates from 20 September 2026).
  3. Services Australia, Assets test for Age Pension.
  4. Services Australia, Income test for Age Pension.
  5. Services Australia, Who can get Age Pension.
  6. Department of Social Services, Benefit and Payment Recipient Demographics, June 2026 quarter.
  7. AIHW, Income support for older Australians (October 2025).
  8. Australian Government, Budget 2026–27, Budget Paper No. 1, Statement 6.
  9. The Treasury, 2026 Intergenerational Report (September 2026).
  10. The Treasury, Intergenerational Report 2023.
  11. APRA, Quarterly Superannuation Performance Statistics, June 2026.
  12. ATO, Taxation Statistics 2023–24, individuals, super balances by age and sex.
  13. ATO, Key superannuation rates and thresholds.
  14. ATO, Transfer balance cap.
  15. ATO, Division 296 tax thresholds.
  16. ATO, Downsizer super contributions data (July 2026).
  17. ASFA, An update on Superannuation Account Balances: 2026 Edition (industry body).
  18. ASFA Retirement Standard, June quarter 2026 (industry body).
  19. ABS, Labour Force, Australia, August 2026 (original series).
  20. ABS, Housing Occupancy and Costs, 2019–20.
  21. ABS, Household Income and Wealth, Australia, 2019–20.
  22. ABS, Distribution of Household Income, Consumption and Wealth, 2021–22.
  23. ABS, Housing Mobility and Conditions, 2019–20.
  24. ABS, Estimating Homelessness: Census 2021.
  25. AIHW, Specialist Homelessness Services annual report 2024–25, older clients.
  26. OECD, Pensions at a Glance 2025, old-age income poverty.
  27. PwC-RLC Retirement Census 2025, Property Council of Australia (industry survey).
  28. ABS, National, state and territory population, March 2026.
  29. ABS, Life expectancy, 2022–2024.
  30. ABS, Disability, Ageing and Carers, Australia, 2022.
Things to know about the data. The ABS household survey behind the housing tenure and net worth figures was last published for 2019–20, and the ABS has said the 2023–24 survey will not be released, so those figures are the latest official ones but are six years old. Super balances exclude people with no super. Retirement village figures come from a voluntary industry survey.
Cite this page. Aged Care Checker, "Retirement Statistics Australia 2026", agedcarechecker.com, updated 4 October 2026. These figures are free to reuse under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence: credit the original source and link to this page. See also our Aged Care Statistics Australia 2026 report.