French pension reforms spark protests
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President Emmanuel Macron hopes his highly contentious overhaul of the pension system will substantially reduce the cost of France’s current system, one of the most expensive in the world
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PENSION SPENDING (cost as percentage of GDP)

Greece  16.8
Italy 16.2
France 13.9
Portugal 13.3
Austria  13.3
Finland  11.4
Slovenia 11.1
Poland 11.1
Spain 11.0
Belgium  10.7
Germany  10.1
Hungary 9.2
Luxembourg  8.4
Denmark 8.1
Czech Rep 8.1
Slovakia 7.3
Sweden 7.2
Latvia 7.0
Estonia 7.0
Lithuania 6.7
Norway 6.6
Switzerland 6.5 
UK  6.2
Netherlands 5.4
Ireland 3.6
Iceland 2.1
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Demonstrations against sweeping pension reforms pose biggest challenge for Macron since gilets jaunes protests began in 2018
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Source: OECD  Picture: Getty Images   © GRAPHIC NEWS