I’m out of here

The headline in the Sunday Times reads: 3.5m pensioners expected to retire to sunnier climes.

A soon to be published study by the Institute for Public Policy Research calculates that more than 3.3m British pensioners will make their home abroad by the middle of the century. It is a threefold increase to the current figure of 1,000,000.

The top choice for retirement is Australia, with 245,000 pensioners living there in January this year. Canada, with 157,000, and the United States, with 132,000, follow behind.

Spain is the most popular destination on the European mainland, with 75,000, followed by Italy and France, both with 34,000. Ireland had 105,000 British pensioners by last January.

It will be interesting to read the full report to see how much confidence we can have in these numbers. Dick Stroud