Yesterday, the Azorean Legislative Assembly approved by a majority a preliminary bill presented by the regional government to index the retirement age in the Azores to the average life expectancy in the region. This would mean that in 2025, Azoreans would retire at 64 years and two months, two years and five months earlier than mainlanders.
The Portuguese Parliament must still approve the initiative for the measure to come into force.
The draft law was approved by the region’s governing parties (PSD, CDS-PP, and PPM), Chega, and PAN. PS and BE abstained, while IL voted against it.
In justifying the proposal, the vice president of the Regional Government, Artur Lima, said that the measure was not intended to “arbitrarily benefit the Azoreans” but rather to “ensure equal access to retirement.”
“The approval of this proposal, which considers as a beneficiary those who have cumulatively resided in the Region for at least 30 years and have at least two-thirds of their contributory career on one of the Azorean islands, would result in an old-age pension being awarded in the Azores in 2025 at the age of 64 years and two months, instead of the 66 years and seven months currently in force in the country. A difference of two years and five months,” he explained.
Artur Lima rejected the idea of “populism, demagoguery or discrimination,” claiming that the aim was to “equalize the real age of access to retirement for Azoreans with the real age of access for the population living in mainland Portugal” since Azoreans “have an average life expectancy that is consistently and demonstrably below the national average.”
“Azoreans cannot be disproportionate funders of the social security system. We cannot allow this decades-long injustice to continue,” he stressed.

Populism and demagoguery
Deputy Nuno Barata (IL), who was the only one to vote against the proposal, accused the vice-president of the Regional Government of populism and demagoguery and said that the measure negates autonomy’s achievements.
“It is a fact that average life expectancy in the Azores is around two years lower than on the Portuguese mainland, but it is not a fact that this is the case in all regions of the country, in all the islands of the Azores, in all 19 municipalities of the Azores, in all the parishes of the Azores. These issues cannot be measured by numbers. These issues can be measured by the responsibilities of the successive regional governments of the Azores, which have failed to protect the health of the Azoreans,” she said.
In her reaction, Catarina Cabeceiras, from the CDS-PP, claimed that it wasn’t populism because it was something the party had been defending “for many years.” The retirement age was still indexed to average life expectancy.
“As well as bringing justice to the region, it is an affirmation of our Autonomy. We cannot confuse the Autonomous Region of the Azores with an administrative region on the continent, because our region is not the same as the others. The Constitution gave us political Autonomy so that we have the tools and conditions to claim what we see as fair rights for Azoreans who live in completely different contexts,” he stressed.
António Lima, from the BE, who abstained, said that the party advocates lowering the retirement age to 65 throughout the country without indexing it to average life expectancy.
The MP also pointed out that the proposal has no immediate or certain application because it requires the approval of the Assembly of the Republic.
“Once we have the same average life expectancy in the Azores as on the mainland, we’ll have the same retirement age again. That wouldn’t be a bad thing, but it’s the effect the government wants to create that’s missing,” he said.

Lowering the differential
José Toste, from the PS, who also abstained, pointed out that the difference in average life expectancy between the Azores and the mainland, which had been falling since 2015, worsened in the three years 2021-2023.
“The Regional Government’s commitment should be to correct this gap and not allow it to worsen,” he argued.
The MP said that it is necessary to reflect on whether the measure meets the aims and purposes of Autonomy or whether it “calls into question the principles of solidarity.”
He also questioned the executive on the financial impact of the measure. “The Regional Government is not concerned if this measure reduces the number of teachers in schools or the number of nurses and doctors in the Regional Health Service,” he said.
José Paulo Sousa, from Chega, considered the measure to be “the most elementary justice” for the Azoreans.
“On average, we live about two years and seven months less than those who live on the mainland, but we work the same, pay the same contributions and in the end we enjoy retirement for less time. It’s not a question of privilege, but of ensuring that Azoreans have the same right to rest and retirement as any Portuguese citizen,” he said.
Paulo Margato, from the PPM, praised the courage of the vice president of the regional government for presenting a proposal that does “justice, which should have been done years ago.”
The MP recalled, however, that average life expectancy in the Azores has increased.
“From 2012 to 2022, there was an increase of 1.22 years in average life expectancy, which also means that Azoreans may be enjoying better health and better living conditions,” he stressed.
Nídia Inácio, from the PSD, warned that “the Azoreans are disadvantaged in the national context” and considered it “very fair” that they should have access to early retirement.
“Anyone who is against this proposal is against the Azoreans. Together we can build a fairer, more inclusive and supportive society. Let it be clear that even in the possible scenario of the dissolution of the Assembly of the Republic, this initiative will continue until the end of the legislature of the Parliament of the Azores,” he said.

In Diário Insular, José Lourenço-director

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Department (MCLL) as part of Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Media Alliance) at California State University, Fresno, PBBI thanks Luso Financial for sponsoring NOVIDADES.