Spain is the favourite destintation for retired Britons

SPAIN is the favourite destination for British people hoping to retire abroad. This was revealed by research carried out by Standard Life listing the top retirement hotspots outside the UK.

Australia ranked second followed by the USA, France and Ireland respectively. Nearly six in 10 Britons wanted to retire overseas last year, a survey of 7,500 European Workers by global consultant Aon shows.

And one in four Europeans wishing to retire abroad identified Spain as their preferred country, according to the survey

Spain and France topped the popularity tables when it came to workers intending to retire in their home country with 87 and 81 per cent respectively.

There were more than 800,000 British residents in Spain in 2010, according to the Institute for Public Policy Research.

While figures show more Briton’s live in Australia (1.1 million) and the USA (829,000) than Spain, recent Foreign & Commonwealth Office statistics show Britons are more likely to get in trouble or in need of a hospital here than anywhere else.

But one reason is that Spain received an estimated 13.3 million British tourists last year, more than double the 5.25 million to the USA.

By Nicole Hallett