It's not just young people who leave Italy in search of a better life and more job opportunities. In recent years, even retirees have begun to move to other European countries in order to have a higher quality of life and enjoy their retirement years with much more money in their pockets. Favorite destinations: Spain and Portugal.
Before dwelling on the phenomenon now called "social security emigration", it is right to report some data. According to the latest Report published by Censis on the basis of Istat data, to date 25,7% of checks received by those who have had access to social security treatment are less than 500 euros. 40% is instead between 500 and 1.000 euros, 23,5 between 1.000 and 2.000, while only 3,2% is more than 3.000 euros per month.
Figures that every year lead an ever-increasing number of retirees to leave Italy and move to countries that guarantee them a softer tax regime and a lower cost of living.
Among these is Spain with the Canary Islands in the lead. The mix between the cost of living and an average tax advantage of 5% has led more and more Italians to choose the wonderful Spanish islands as their place of residence.
But at the top of the ranking of the most popular destinations is Portugal. In 2017 alone, 300 people decided to move to Lisbon in order to take advantage of the tax free regime existing in the country. Indeed, in Portugal, the pension is exempt from taxation in the first ten years of new residence.
Although still a niche phenomenon, the percentage increase in numbers suggests that it could "be just the beginning" of a trend that will continue to rise over the years and the reduction of checks deriving from the application of the contribution system.
