AUSTRIA - The peak of the baby boomers retirement wave will upend the Austrian state pension system by 2025, Allianz has warned.

Nearly a quarter (23%) of Austria's population of 8m is currently 60 years old or older, and by 2030, this figure is set to increase to 30%

Allianz said this number would surge due to a wave of around 665,000 people set to start their retirement in 2025 - 43% more retirees than in 2010.

Further, by 2025, life expectancy is set to increase to 82.3 years. By comparison, in 1950, it was 66.3 years, and in 2009, 77.4 years.

Wolfram Littich, chairman of Allianz Group in Austria, said the country needed to "catch up" on supplementary retirement provision, as the first pillar still accounts for approximately 90% of pension benefits.

"The state pay-as-you-go system will continue to come under pressure, especially when hundreds of thousands of Austrians are retiring simultaneously," he said.

"Austria has a lot of catching up to do - currently, the relation between state and supplementary retirement provision is 90 to 10."

Pensioner lobbying groups have renewed their calls to scrap forced early retirement and privileged pension arrangements for certain professions.

They also want to see the introduction of a bonus system to reward people working beyond the statutory retirement age.