Record number of UK expats spend their silver years in Spain

British residents aged 65 or over in Spain has doubled

Data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) has revealed that Spain is home to more UK expats aged 65 or over than the UK is home to Spanish citizens.

The number of British elderly living in Spain has doubled in a decade having reached now 121,000 and with the majority of UK expats relocating to Spain for retirement, there is a steady increase in British expats receiving their state pension upon Spanish shores.

Marc Pritchard, Sales & Marketing Manager, Taylor Wimpey Espana: “When it comes to who is moving and living in Spain, over the last decade we have witnessed the marked growth of those of retirement age choosing to relocate. We now receive more than double the number of enquiries from this demographic than we did 10 years ago, a trend which the ONS data also reflects.”

Concerns about the freeze of state pension post-Brexit have also been wiped out as the government has stated that British pensioners abroad will continue to have their state pension increase. 

And with Pension Awareness Day fast approaching, interest from British pensioners to relocate in Spain is believed by many not to slow down in the near future with many UK pensioners retire in Spain. In 2016, 40 per cent of the 300,000 British citizens living in Spain were retired, according to ONS figures.

Leading Spanish homebuilder Taylor Wimpey Espana, which offers a range of second homes on Mallorca, the Costa Blanca and Costa del Sol, has also seen an increase in the number of UK buyers aged 50 – 65 years old.

“The majority of British buyers we welcome here to Spain are aged 50 – 65 years old; those who are lucky enough to have retired early but more often than not, those thinking ahead and planning for their silver years in the Spanish sun.”