Is Australia the best spot for Britons to retire abroad? Nearly quarter of a million people now claim their pension Down Under as it tops the global list
- Australia, the US and Canada scoop top three destinations for British expats
- Nearly a quarter of a million expats claim their state pension from Australia
- Some expats losing out due to differences in pension rules across jurisdictions
Australia is the clear hotspot for British expat pensioners, with 20 per cent of retired Britons claiming their state pension from the country, research has found.
Though southern European countries such as France and Spain have traditionally been expat hotspots, the latest figures from investment platform Easymoney show Australia and the US are currently more popular retirement destinations.
Nearly a quarter of a million – or 234,880 to be precise – British expat pensioners claim their state pension from Australia, the equivalent of the population of Swansea.
Nearly a quarter of a million British expat pensioners claim their state pension from Australia
In total, 1.2million British expat pensioners claimed from abroad last year. The US, Canada, Ireland and Spain made up the rest of the top five spots.
But not all countries fare equally when it comes to drawing a state pension. Some retirees are losing out by more than £4,000 a year due to differences in pension rules across jurisdictions.
In certain countries, such as Canada, India and Australia, state pensions are frozen when you first retire or move abroad.
1 | Australia | 234,880 |
---|---|---|
2 | USA | 134,130 |
3 | Canada | 133,310 |
4 | Ireland | 132,650 |
5 | Spain | 106,420 |
6 | France | 66,970 |
7 | New Zealand | 65,370 |
8 | Germany | 42,050 |
9 | Italy | 35,160 |
10 | South Africa | 37,900 |
11 | Cyprus | 18,180 |
12 | Netherlands | 12,910 |
13 | Jamaica | 12,840 |
14 | Switzerland | 11,530 |
15 | Portugal | 10,920 |
16 | Jersey | 9,180 |
17 | Malta | 6,380 |
18 | Japan | 6,270 |
19 | Greece | 5,940 |
20 | Sweden | 5,920 |
However, this isn’t the case for others, including EU countries and the US.
That means if you move some of these countries, whatever amount the state pension is set at when you leave is what you will continue to get throughout retirement, unless you move back to the UK.
This currently reduces the state pension of around 550,000 British pensioners living overseas.
The Government says: ‘The Government has a very clear position, which has remained consistent for around 70 years: the UK state pension is payable worldwide but is only uprated abroad where we have a legal requirement to do so or a reciprocal agreement is in place.’
Andrew de Candole, chief executive at Easymoney, said: ‘Spending your golden years abroad is an attractive option for many but it does rely on having a sizeable private pension pot.’
The International Consortium of British Pensioners and other groups have campaigned on the issue but so far all efforts to unfreeze state pensions have been rebuffed by the Government.
This is despite cross-party support for change from sympathetic backbench MPs, and the Labour party at the 2017 election.
In certain countries state pensions are frozen when you first retire or move abroad
For more expat articles visit This is Money’s new expat section, expat money.
If you have any question you wish to be answered as part of the section, send an email with the subject line ‘expat’ to editor@thisismoney.co.uk.