About 150,000 British people now live in France, with the southwest of the nation — including the Dordogne — the most popular place to relocate.
A special report by the British Office for National Statistics examining country-by-country migration patterns found that older Britons favored the south and mid-west region, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, but younger, working Britons were more commonly found in Paris and the Ile-de-France region around the capital.
The office also found that 43 percent of the 148,800 British citizens living in France last year were aged between 15 and 54, while 46 percent were over 55.
BRITAIN DIFFERS
The pattern was not replicated in Britain, where more than half of the 154,800 French citizens estimated to be living in the UK between 2013 and 2015 were aged between 25 and 44.
Sixty-five percent of the French in the UK work in “higher level professions,” with 29 percent working in banking and financial services and a quarter in public administration, education and health, the office said.
The report is the third in a series conducted by the office.
RETIREMENT FACTOR
Previous reports concentrated on Spain and the EU8 — eight of the 10 nations that joined the EU in 2004 — including Poland and the Baltic states.
While study and work draws tens of thousands of French nationals to the UK, retirement appears to be a driver for a significant proportion of the Britons who make the opposite journey.
British Department of Work and Pensions figures show that about 67,000 people in France are drawing a UK state pension. This would amount to more than 40 percent of the total number of Britons living in France.
LIMITS OF DATA
However it could include other nationalities who have worked in the UK, retired across the English Channel and are entitled to a British state pension.
Information on the occupations of Britons in France was not available, but the office found that 19 percent of British citizens were over 65, 13 percent were under 15 years old and of the remaining 106,200 of working age, 52 percent were employed, 5 percent unemployed and 43 percent economically inactive.
The majority of this group are likely to be retirees, but it could also include students and stay-at-home parents.
POPULAR DESTINATION
The most popular place for Britons is Nouvelle-Aquitaine, which takes in popular destinations such as Bordeaux, Limoges and Bergerac, followed by the region of Occitanie in the south, which covers the departments of Languedoc and Lot.
France was found to be the second-most popular destination for holidays for Britons after Spain.
The office said that although the numbers of UK citizens living in France and French nationals resident in the UK were about the same, “of the two, it seems France is the more popular retirement destination.”
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