Raising the age when Australians can access their superannuation to 65 would boost the federal government’s budget by about $7 billion a year by the middle of the century, a report says.

The modelling from the Productivity Commission released on Tuesday also suggests households would be likely to delay their retirement by two years and see their super savings rise by 10 per cent.

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The commission found most retirees are prudent in the ways they spend their super.

Less than 30 per cent of super benefits are taken as lump sums and when they are, Australians frequently use the amounts to pay down debt, invest or purchase “durable goods” to use through their retirement, the report says.

Liberal backbencher Andrew Laming says it’s no secret the federal government is looking to have people work for longer.

“In a wealthy economy, where we’re all living longer, we do have to think about collecting superannuation later for the simple reason that it needs to last for our expected longevity,” he told ABC radio.

But Mr Laming warned there needed to be arrangements for people who pull out of the workforce involuntarily because of illness or redundancies and any rule change should happen very gradually.