Yzabelle Bostyn
A NEW study has claimed Spain is the worst country in the EU to retire to.
SPAIN is the worst country to retire to in the EU, according to a new study.
Out of 44 countries, it only secured 39th place, in front of Russia, Brazil, Turkey, Colombia and India.
The list was compiled by Natixis Investment Managers The World Retirement Index, which compares the quality of retirement worldwide.
In collaboration with Core Data Research, the study takes into retirement funds, material well being, health and quality of life.
Each country was then given a score from 0-100 based on 18 parameters.
This year, Spain has fallen two places in the global ranking, with a score of 49%.
However, this is still one point more than in 2023.
China and Mexico are the countries which overtook Spain this year.
Despite this, Spain is still in the top 20 when it comes to health, with a score of 85% and quality of life, with a score of 75%.
In comparison, it has a dismal score for material wellbeing at just 16%, falling within the bottom three alongside India and Colombia.
It also didn’t fare well in terms of retirement funds, scoring 58%.
According to the report, Spain has been undergoing a steady decline in the past few years.
In 2014, it occupied the 30th spot sinking nine spaces in the past decade.
“Spain persistently has a lot of unemployment. Temporary contracts in the tourism and hospitality sector are common and combined with the low general productivity of the country, it means labour reforms haven’t had great effect,” said the report.
Javier Garcia de Vinuesa, the Iberian lead for Natixis, says the results should be a wake up call for Spain.
“We must be aware of the ageing population in Spain and the impact of this on the sustainability of the pension system. Taking this into account, we must take responsibility ourselves to guarantee financial security in retirement,” he said.
As a result, Garcia de Vinuesa recommends increasing financial education in Spain, where local authorities push citizens to save over long periods of time.
In comparison to Spain, Switzerland is the best country to retire in with an 82% score.
It is closely followed by Norway, with 81%.
For most countries, their retirement scales have remained stable this year after a slight improvement in 2023.
However, the top ten has remained consistent in the past few years, with Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Luxemburg, Australia, Germany, Denmark and New Zealand.
