Former treasurer Wayne Swan, who helped steer Australia through the global financial crisis, will retire from Parliament at the next election to allow for a "fresh, energetic, young" successor in his seat of Lilley in northern Brisbane.

First elected in 1993, Mr Swan, 63, said he had reached a stage in life where he could not be 100 per cent committed to his work as an MP while meeting personal obligations and "maintaining the fight against inequality".

Announcing the decision, the Labor elder said he was proudest of his work as treasurer in the Rudd and Gillard governments "to avoid recession during the global financial crisis, saving our people from the economic devastation and social dislocation that ravaged so many other world economies".

Former treasurer Wayne Swan in his office at Parliament House. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten thanked Mr Swan for giving to the Labor Party "every bit of his legendary work effort, every measure of his tremendous intellect, every ounce of his passion for a fairer Australia".