Number of pensionable-age Brits living in Spain doubles in past decade

A recent joint study conducted by the UK’s Office for National Statistics (ONS) and Spain’s Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE) has found that the number of Britons aged 65 and over living in Spain has more than doubled over the last ten years…

The ONS/INE report found that there are now currently 121,000 pensionable-age Brits officially registered as living in Spain – a figure that represents 40% of the entire British community in the country.

Of that 121,000, the Department for Work and Pensions says that 108,433 Brits receive a state pension in Spain.

Despite having doubled in number since 2007, British pensioner numbers in Spain have tended to rise slowly each year, with no evidence of any spikes in number. Rather, the increase is actually more likely down to the simple fact of ageing: Brits who have lived in Spain for many years crossing the 65-year-old threshold.

According to the official ONS/INE data, at the end of 2016 there were 296,000 British citizens who had been living in Spain for more than 12 months, compared to 116,000 Spaniards who called the UK home between 2013 and 2015.

These official figures for Brits in Spain are some way below the expected 1 million+ Brits who actually reside in Spain. This higher estimate is based on a 2015 UN report that suggested more than two-thirds of Brits have failed to officially register with their local Spanish town hall.

However, even based on this lower official number, there are more Brits living abroad in Spain than in any other foreign country. France and Ireland are the second- and third-most popular locations, respectively

As for Spaniards in Britain, the data found that 59% hold down a job in the UK, with 78% of that figure to be found working in education, health, finance and hospitality.