The average retirement age rose by one year between 2004 and 2010, bringing the age at which men stop working in line with the state pension for the first time in 26 years.
The average retirement age for men has risen from 63.8 years seven years ago to 64.6 years in 2010, according to data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), while women's average retirement age rose from 61.2 years to 62.3 years during the same period.
Although more women than men are working beyond their state pension age (SPA) of 65, a spokeswoman for the ONS pointed out that while the SPA is now rising for women born after 6 December 1953, they still receive their state pension several years before men.
Over the longer term, the estimated average age of withdrawal from the labour market for women has shown a rising trend overall since 1984, and a particularly sharp rise over the past decade. But men's average pension age dropped in the early 1990s following recession, after which it remained stable until 2002 when it started rising until 2010.
Despite the expectation that life expectancy at SPA will increase for both sexes between 2021 and 2051, the prospects for those living longer are not necessarily attractive.
In 2008, the latest year for which figures are available, UK men aged 65 could expect 9.9 years of healthy life compared to 17.6 years of life expectancy, while UK women aged 65 could expect 11.5 years of healthy life compared to 20.2 years of life expectancy.
Joanne Segars, chief executive of the National Association of Pension Funds, said: "We are all living longer so it is logical that we will have to spend more time at work. These figures show that clocking on for longer is becoming part of our way of thinking. But that doesn't mean the end of retirement – people should not have to work until they drop.
"Some people are choosing to work longer, but more and more find themselves stuck at work because their savings and pension are inadequate. They get a shock when they find they have to keep working while their friends retire."
She added: "The key problem is that our society isn't putting enough aside for its older age. We need to get more people saving for their retirement, and to encourage them to start as early as possible. The state pension is also in need of urgent reform and we need a much simpler and more generous system."
The ONS estimates a life expectancy gap of more than three years between those aged 65 in the highest and lowest socio-economic classes in England and Wales.
However, Steven Baxter of longevity predicting specialist Club Vita said this could narrow over time because of changing smoking habits.
"According to the [ONS] data, the number of professionals who are giving up smoking is slowing to a crawl, while manual workers continue to give up cigarettes en masse. The difference in the number of smokers in each group has historically been one key driver of the gap in life expectancy between rich and poor," he said
"However, if this new pattern continues we may see the rich/poor divide start to narrow, at least in part. For consumers, this could mean further variations in the price of annuities as insurers take differing views on how this trend will play out."