There would now be a million of them in Percy's sights. In an exclusive interview with France's Parisien Today newspaper, Labor and Public Accounts Minister Gabriel Attal revealed his plan to monitor pensioners over the age of 85 who live abroad, especially to make sure they are still alive.
This announcement comes in the wake of an experiment conducted since September in Algeria, during which 300 files of retirees “close to the centenary” out of 1,000 files studied were declared non-compliant, the minister confirmed, recalling that more than a million pensions were paid abroad, half of them outside Europe. And 300 thousand in Algeria.
It is also the country that receives the largest number of French pensioners, according to the latest figures from Cnav, ahead of Portugal, Spain and Italy. In detail, the National Old-Age Insurance Fund reveals that 90% of these retirees live in two continents: Africa (42%) and Europe (47%). In total, this million retirees represent 7% of the total retirees.
Older than those residing in France
With an average gross monthly pension of 284 euros, “the annual block paid to retirees residing abroad amounts to 3.8 billion, or 3% of the total retirement benefits paid by the public system in 2021.” These retirees also earn much less than those in mainland France. “Insured people who live abroad have a shorter professional life in France, which is justifiable On average fewer quarters. Knaf explains to Le Parisien that the distribution by country of residence also reflects the history of migration and, in particular, temporary labor migration.
In addition to the Maghreb, all the border countries are also the most popular among French retirees (Belgium, Germany and Switzerland are in the top ten). What is even more surprising is that in the middle of the United States, the United Kingdom or any other country in Israel, Serbia has 10 thousand French pensioners. For your information, we note that Cnav lists retirees in more than 200 countries, 10 in Puerto Rico, seven in Nepal, or 16 in Ethiopia.
In all these countries, they are on average older than their counterparts in France, for example, 34% of them are between 80 and 89 years old abroad compared to 19% of retired residents in France in the same age group.
Regarding foreign countries as well, Gabriel Attal also announced his desire to “strengthen” the conditions of residence in France “to benefit from social benefits.” The minister noted that it will now be necessary to spend nine months of the year in the country, compared to the currently planned six months, to benefit from family allowances or the old-age minimum. The same applies to Assistance Housing (APL), which currently only requires eight months of presence.
