More and more retired Belgians are moving abroad. Today 61,556 retired Belgians live abroad. France is the most popular country, but Portugal has shown a strong increase over the past decade.
Figures from the Belgian pensions service show the number of Belgians retiring to France jumped 67% over the past decade. In popularity France is followed by Spain, the Netherlands, Germany and Luxembourg. Portugal features in sixth place. The number of Belgian retirees there quadrupled over the decade.
There have also been big increases in the number of people retiring to Turkey and Morocco, countries with large communities in Belgium. Thailand too is popular.
115,646,158.44 euros flows abroad in pensions every month, to Belgians and foreign nationals, who worked here. Most of the countries that feature in the Top 10 also have beneficial tax regimes for foreign retirees settling there.
In Portugal foreign retirees only pay 10% tax on their pensions during the first ten years. Before 2020 the rate was zero. In Israel a zero rate still applies for the first ten years.
Extremely rich retirees will often choose Switzerland or Italy where they pay a fixed amount in tax and not a percentage. France isn’t a tax haven, but taxation is still lower than in Belgium.