Irish men who suffer deteriorating health are among the most likely employees in Europe to seek early retirement, a new report has found. The study found the link between ill health and retirement age varies markedly across European countries.

A study of the impact of health "shocks" on the decision of individuals to retire early found that for men, rapidly deteriorating health had the largest impact in Ireland, Portugal, Greece and Spain.

They compared the likelihood of leaving the workforce before 65 years among those who suffered a serious medical setback with people of normal health.

Compared to their healthy counterparts, men suffering a health shock in Ireland were four-and-a-half times as likely to give up work ahead of their normal retirement date, the University of York findings showed.

The research, published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, was based on the analysis of data from the European Community Household Panel.

For women, the countries where acute health shocks had the largest impact are Ireland, Portugal, Denmark and Spain, said the research.

The countries where men and women were least likely to retire early due to ill health were Italy, France, UK and Belgium.

Professor Nigel Rice, co-author of the research, said: "People in different European countries might be expected to behave in broadly similar ways in response to a sudden decline in their health.

"Our research, however, demonstrates that people in these circumstances take very different decisions about their working future, depending on where they live.

"The age people retire has significant implications for public policy so it is important that we improve our understanding of how they come to this decision."

The report pointed out that the developed world is facing an ageing population as life expectancy increases and birth rates decrease.

"At the same time, the average age of retirement has been decreasing in Europe and recent estimates range from 58 years in Luxembourg to 63 years in Sweden.

"This has important implications for the labour market and will increase demands on both the health system and the public provision of pensions and other benefits."

It said that within the European Union, the old age dependency rate is forecast to double between 2000 and 2040.

These pressures vary between member states but are becoming a major political issue in all countries.