Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Overseas Pensions – 29 April 1987

Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Overseas Pensions on 29th April 1987.

Mrs. Beckett Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will give the most recent available estimate of (a) the number of retired people, by country of residence, living abroad in a country with which Britain has no reciprocal social security agreement, and who would otherwise be receiving a state retirement pension and (b) the cost of paying a state retirement pension to these people.

Mr. Major British retirement pensions are payable anywhere in the world. Cost-of-living increases are paid, however, only where there is a reciprocal agreement with the country concerned to provide for this.

The number of retirement pensioners who are living in a country with which the United Kingdom has no reciprocal social security agreement to provide for payment of the increase is as follows:

Number of Retirement Pensioners, in overseas Countries at 31 December 1985 (Latest Figures Available)

Country | Number

Albania | 5
Algeria | 1
Andorra | 88
Angola | 1
Anguilla | 49
Antigua | 119
Argentina | 133
Australia | 96,126
Bahamas | 106
Bahrain | 15
Bangladesh | 1,253
Barbados | 729
Belize | 10
Bolivia | 4
Botswana | 38
Brazil | 133
Brunei | 9
Bulgaria | 9
Burma | 7
Cameroon | 4
Canada | 54,388
Cayman Islands | 22
Chile | 38
China | 7
Colombia | 23
Cook Islands | 5
Costa Rica | 5
Czechoslovakia | 25
Djibouti | 3
Dominica, Commonwealth of | 233
Dominican Republic | 132
East Germany | 13
Ecuador | 9
Egypt | 34
El Salvador | 1
Ethiopia | 4
Falkland Islands and Dependencies | 6
Faroe Islands | 1
Fiji | 27
Gabon | 1
Gambia | 5
Ghana | 44
Grenada | 298
Guatemala | 3
Guyana | 124
Haiti | 1
Honduras | 2
Hong Kong | 331
Hungary | 138
India | 2,580
Indonesia | 13
Iraq | 3
Japan | 42
Jordan | 7
Kenya | 345
Kiribati (Gilbert Islands) | 2
Kuwait | 6
Lebanon | 26
Lesotho | 6
Liberia | 4
Libyan Arab Republic | 2
Madagascar | 2
Malawi | 38
Malaya | 45
Mexico | 56
Monaco | 160
Monserrat | 180
Morocco | 28
Mozambique | 1
Naura, Republic of | 2
Nepal | 14
Netherlands Antilles | 6
New Zealand | 23,167
Nigeria | 69
Norfolk Island | 11
Norway | 119
Oman | 8
Pakistan | 3,369
Panama | 7
Papua New Guinea | 17
Peru | 34
Philippines | 34
Poland | 2,459
Puerto Rico | 3
Qatar | 6
Romania | 19
Rwanda | 2
St Helena and Dependencies | 30
St Kitts-Nevis | 277
St Lucia | 350
St Vincent | 237
Sarawak | 2
Saudi Arabia | 23
Senegal | 8
Seychelles | 24
Sierra Leone | 33
Singapore | 60
Solomon Islands | 4
Somalia | 134
South Africa | 18,879
South Korea | 2
South West Africa or Namibia | 13
Sri Lanka | 94
Sudan | 9
Swaziland | 42
Sweden | 64
Syria | 1
Taiwan | 2
Tanzania | 39
Thailand | 31
Togo | 1
Tonga | 3
Trinidad and Tobago | 251
Tunisia | 8
Turks & Caicos Islands | 2
Uganda | 12
United Arab Emirates | 22
USSR | 741
Uruguay | 16
Vanuatu (New Hebrides) | 1
Venezuela | 26
Virgin Islands | 29
Western Samoa | 7
Yemen Arab Republic (North) | 719
Yemen, People’s Democratic Republic of (South) | 87
Zaire | 5
Zambia | 86
Zimbabwe | 3,498
The annual cost of paying these retirement pensions was £168 million in November 1985. Payment at the full November 1985 rates would have cost an additional £166 million.