Europeans retirees want to retire in warmer climates and predominantly in countries other than their own according to a new survey of 7,500 European workers from Aon Consulting. Spain was the most popular retirement destination and also had the highest percentage of respondents who were citizens that wanted to remain in their home country for retirement.
Top 10 Retirement Destinations for Europeans (for those who hope to retire abroad):
1) Spain
2) France
3) USA
4) Italy
5) Australasia
6) Africa
7) Switzerland
8) Latin America
9) United Kingdom
10) The Netherlands
Percentage of those wishing to retire in their home country:
Spain 86.8%
France 81.1%
Denmark 73.6%
Norway 63.4%
The Netherlands 61.4%
Switzerland 53.0%
Ireland 49.0%
Germany 45.9%
UK 42.7%
"Cheap air travel and the communication tools available over the internet means that retiring overseas doesn’t necessarily mean being completely absent from your family’s life, making the prospect of emigration to other countries on an previously unseen scale a real possibility. Not surprisingly, most people want to spend their retirement predominantly in countries with good weather and good social and government benefits, and ideally close enough so that they can get home quickly if they need to,” said Oliver Rowlands, head of retirement, Europe, Middle East and Africa, at Aon Consulting.
