Spain Retirement Outlook 2026

1The wealth picture

Spanish households headed by a retired person hold a little over a third of the country's net wealth, much of it in homes. Over the coming decades much of it will pass to their heirs. Almost all of it will stay in Spain.

• All households, 2026€8.41 trillionNet wealth of Spanish households, first quarter of 2026; about US$9.85 trillion (our conversion)^{1, 12}
• Retired-headed households€3.01 trillion35.8% of the total (our calculation); about US$3.52 trillion (our conversion)^{1, 12}
• Per retired household€562,050The average (mean), not the typical household, first quarter of 2026¹
• Median, head aged 65–74€249,200The highest median of any age group, end of 2024; about US$270,000 (our conversion)^{13, 12}

Two sources, two dates: the ECB's experimental estimates (early 2026) and the Banco de España's household survey (end of 2024). Do not mix or add them.

Their share has stayed at about 35% to 36% throughout: 35.2% in 2016 and 35.8% in 2026 (our calculations).¹ These are euros of each year, not adjusted for inflation, and the ECB does not say what drove the rise.

Wealth by age

In 2024 euros, so the changes are after inflation. The median is the middle household. By the mean, the over-75s are slightly ahead of the 65–74 group.¹³

What will be passed on

• One estimate, with no method. A Vanguard specialist estimates that about €3 trillion will pass from Spain's Silent and Baby Boomer generations to their heirs over the next 30 years (about US$3.5 trillion, our conversion). It is an opinion column, not an official figure.^{14, 12}
• More for each heir. Funcas and Afi work out an illustrative average inheritance for each Spaniard aged 45 to 65: €91,000 in 2002 and €177,000 in 2022, in 2022 euros. Rising asset values, mainly homes, explain the rise; without them it would have been about €81,000.¹⁵
• Fewer heirs to share it. Younger generations are smaller, so the same illustration gives a 41% rise in the average millennial inheritance from 2022 to 2042, if real wealth holds steady.¹⁵

2Homes passing to heirs, and business owners near retirement

Older Spaniards own their homes, and property makes up most of what Spanish families own.¹³ Every year more homes pass to heirs, and many self-employed people are close to retirement age.

• Head aged 65 and over88.2%Own their home, and 82.4% own it outright, 2025²
• The main home41.7%Share of all household assets, end of 2024¹³
• Inherited homes, 2025208,331Up 37.8% on 2015 (our sums of monthly figures)⁵
• Self-employed aged 56+1,004,18228.8% of all self-employed workers, August 2026 (our calculation)⁶

• Counts, not values. The register counts homes when the transfer is registered, which can be some time after the death or gift. It does not say what they are worth or whether heirs sell them.⁵
• No data on downsizing. We found no official figures on Spaniards aged 65 and over selling or leaving their homes.
• Other property counts too. Property other than the main home (land, garages, shops, second homes and so on) is 26.9% of household assets, and self-employment businesses are 7.5%.¹³

Business owners near retirement

The self-employed count includes sole traders, company directors, partners and family helpers; it is not a count of businesses for sale. The family-firm figures cover companies only, from 2021–2022 accounts, and use a broad definition of a family firm. No source estimates how many will be sold, or for how much.^{6, 16}

3Ageing: people aged 65 and over, now and in ten years

Spain will have about 2.8 million more people aged 65 and over within ten years. By then they will be a quarter of the population.³

• Aged 65+, 1 January 202610.44 million21.1% of the population³
• Aged 65+, 1 January 203512.98 million24.5% of the population (projection)³
• Highest share, 207630.9%The projected peak share of people aged 65 and over³

The UN counts people at mid-year and INE on 1 January, so the two are close but not identical: +2.83 million (+27.1%) from INE and +2.78 million (+26.8%) from the UN (our calculations).^{3, 4} Neither says who will move abroad. But if the share of retirees who move stays the same, the number who move still rises.

4Retirees abroad from Spain

Very few Spanish pensions are paid abroad, and three in four of those go to other European countries (our sum).⁷ Their average is small, €440.06 a month, which suggests many are partial pensions from short careers in Spain (our reading). The few in the DR stand out.

Counts pensions, not people; nationality and birthplace are not recorded. Averages and shares are our calculations.⁷

The DR's average is about twice the average abroad (our calculation). That suggests fuller working careers in Spain (our reading), but the figures cannot tell returning Dominican workers from native Spaniards.⁷

A further 1,829 Spanish pensions were worked out under the Spain–DR social security agreement for people who worked in both countries. They are counted by agreement, not by where the pensioner lives, and many may live in Spain, so they must not be added to the 1,118.⁷

Spaniards registered abroad

• 3.2 million Spaniards live abroad. 3,202,002 Spanish nationals were registered at consulates on 1 January 2026, and 860,957 of them were born in Spain.¹⁷
• About 700,000 are 65 or over. 704,560 (22.0%, our sum), up 31.7% since 2018. The count includes Spaniards born abroad, who are nearly three in four of all those registered (our calculation).¹⁷
• Few Spain-born people aged 65 or over register abroad. In 2025, 37,323 Spain-born people registered abroad, and only 2,025 of them were 65 or over (920 in Europe, 1,030 in the Americas). Registration can come some time after a move, so this is not an exact count of moves that year.¹⁷

Rules that follow a Spanish pension to the DR

• Paid while living in the DR. Under the Spain–DR social security agreement (in force since 2006), pensions may not be reduced or withheld because the pensioner lives in the other country, with some exceptions.¹⁸
• Raised each year. Spanish law raises contributory pensions at the start of each year, and they rose 2.7% in 2026.^{19, 20} The decree does not mention pensioners abroad; that the rise reaches them is our reading of the general rule.¹⁸
• The minimum top-up needs Spanish residence. For pensions that began in 2013 or later, the top-up to the minimum pension is paid only while the pensioner lives in Spain.^{20, 19}
• Proof of life every year. Pensioners abroad must prove they are alive between January and March: at a consulate, at the labour office of a Spanish embassy (in person or by video), or with the VIVESS phone app. In 2024, 41,700 pensioners in 107 countries registered in the app, and more than 36,600 used it to prove they were alive. It also made it possible to restart payment of more than 2,900 pensions suspended for a missed deadline.^{21, 22}
• No Spanish health cover in the DR. Spain's health service covers Spaniards by origin who live abroad only on visits to Spain, when they have no other cover, and the Spain–DR agreement leaves health care out. So movers need their own cover in the DR (our inference).^{23, 18}
• Tax: the treaty's pension rule. The 2014 Spain–DR tax treaty gives the right to tax pensions for past work to the country where the pensioner lives, except public-service pensions. How it applies to a Social Security pension is a question for a Spanish and a Dominican tax adviser.²⁴
• DR residency for pensioners. Law 171-07, as written in 2007, asks for a pension of at least US$1,500 a month (or US$2,000 a month for a rentista, who lives on other income), with no minimum age; a Dominican lawyer must confirm how it is applied today.²⁵ For scale only: the average Spanish retirement pension was €1,574.93 a month on 1 August 2026. It is paid 14 times a year, so it is about €1,837 a month spread over 12 months (our calculation), roughly US$2,130 (our conversion).^{8, 19, 12} An average says nothing about any one person's case, and, according to a press summary, the June 2026 tax reform (Law 30-26) may change the incentives.²⁶

5The Dominican Republic connection

By several measures Spain is the DR's closest tie in Europe: the most air passengers, the most foreign investment in 2025, and deep family links. But the number of native Spaniards who settle in the DR is small and has not grown.

• Air passengers, 2025912,177Between Spain and the DR, both ways; just over 42% of Europe's total⁹
• Visitors living in Spain133,239Air arrivals in 2025, second in Europe after the UK²⁷
• Spaniards in the DR35,588Registered on 1 January 2026; only 5,915 were born in Spain¹⁰
• Residencies, 20251,686Granted to Spanish citizens, all types; 1,754 in 2018¹¹

In 2025 that was 90 definitive, 368 permanent and 1,228 temporary residencies: 4.8% of all 34,778 granted, seventh by nationality and more than for any other European country (our calculations). From January to August 2026: 1,165.¹¹ The data gives no ages. Dominican-born dual nationals would normally not need residency, so these are probably mostly Spaniards born outside the DR (our inference).

The Spain-born group grew by 16.5% since 2018, and by just 23 people in 2025. 5,078 Spanish citizens in the DR are aged 65 or over (3,066 in 2018, our sums), but that count mixes returning Dominicans and native Spaniards.¹⁰ Registration depends on people signing up at the consulate.

Spain's own count agrees: 207,135 people born in the DR lived in Spain on 1 January 2025, and 13,385 of them were 65 or over (our sum).²⁹ Some of these Dominican-born people in Spain, many of them Spanish citizens, may one day return, which makes them a second market beside native Spaniards (our reading). On the DR side, the 2017 immigrant survey put people born in Spain at 1.3% of immigrants, about 7,400 people (our calculation).³⁰

Visitors from Spain

Arrivals are recovering: 84,537 from January to July 2026, the largest rise of any European market (+13,963).^{27, 31} The central bank gives no reason for the 2024 fall. These count arrivals, not people, and the figures by country of residence look like weighted estimates.

19.0% of visitors living in Spain came to see friends or relatives, against 8.6% of all European visitors (our calculations). Their age profile is like other Europeans': 32.4% were 50 or over, against 32.6% for all European visitors.³² Staying outside a hotel can mean a family home, a rental or an owned property; the source does not say which. Reading these as family ties is our interpretation.

Flights, investment and prices

Spain–DR traffic was 912,177 passengers in 2025, both directions, up 7%; the UK came second in Europe with 354,892. The counts include every passenger, among them Dominicans living in Spain and people changing planes in Madrid. Timetables were not checked.⁹

• Investment. Spain was the largest single source of foreign direct investment in the DR in 2025: US$1,086.1 million, 21.6% of the total (our calculation), just ahead of the US. In 2024 the US was ahead. This is company money, not retirees' money.³³
• Everyday prices. Household prices in the DR were about 62% of Spain's in 2024 (our calculation from World Bank price levels). This is a national average basket, not an expat budget.³⁴

6What it means for DR businesses serving people from Spain

Most older Spanish households own their home outright, and Spanish pensions are paid in euros.² They share your language but not your paperwork. Here is what the figures suggest.

• Two groups, one language

  Native Spaniards are a small group: 5,915 Spain-born Spaniards are registered in the DR. Dominican-born people with Spanish ties are a much larger one (our reading): 27,796 DR-born Spanish citizens are registered in the DR, and 13,385 DR-born people aged 65 or over still live in Spain. Serve both.^{10, 29}

• Same language, different paperwork

  Language is not the barrier it is for other Europeans. The gap is know-how: Spanish pension rules, Spanish tax residence, and how things are done in the DR compared with Spain.

• The services the rules point to

  No survey asks what Spanish movers want, so this list follows the rules above, not a poll.

  • Lawyers: DR residency under Law 171-07 and the 2026 tax reform.^{25, 26}
  • Tax advisers: leaving Spanish tax residence, and the 2014 tax treaty.²⁴
  • Insurers and clinics: Spain's health service does not cover them in the DR.²³
  • Paperwork help: the yearly proof of life, January to March, and pension payment details.^{21, 22}
  • Rentals and property managers: 31.5% of visitors from Spain stay outside hotels (our calculation).³²

• Be found before they fly

  Nearly all traffic runs through Madrid, mostly on Air Europa, World2Fly and Iberia.⁹ Visitors who come for family, or who stay in rentals, may be among those who one day stay (our reading). Be easy to find while they plan.

• Stay honest about the size

  About 1,650 residencies a year go to Spanish citizens, and the number has not grown since 2018 (our calculation).¹¹ Most Spanish wealth will stay in Spain. Retire.do puts a business's listing next to its guides and move plan. It cannot promise customers, and the site has no traffic figures yet.

7Risks and caveats

• Estimates, not arrivals. No source measures how much Spanish wealth, inheritance or home-sale money will be spent abroad, or in the DR.
• Experimental and provisional data. The ECB wealth figures are experimental estimates, and INE's home-transfer figures from July 2025 onward appear to be provisional.^{1, 5}
• Mixed groups. Pension, consular and residency counts mix native Spaniards with returning Dominicans and dual nationals. Pensions are not people.^{7, 10}
• Residencies of every type. The DGM figures include all residency types and give no ages, so they are not a count of retirees.¹¹
• Approximate visitor counts. The central bank's arrivals by country of residence are not whole numbers, which suggests weighted estimates, so treat them as approximate.²⁷
• Modelled and dated DR figures. The UN migrant figures are modelled, the DR's immigrant survey dates from 2017, and we could not reach the 2022 census breakdown.^{28, 30}
• One opinion on inheritance. The only total inheritance estimate (about €3 trillion over 30 years) is an opinion column with no published method.¹⁴
• Law and tax change. The Law 171-07 thresholds are the law as written in 2007, and Law 30-26 (June 2026), known here only from a press summary, still awaits its rules. Nothing here is legal or tax advice.^{25, 26}
• Safety. Spain's Foreign Ministry lists no specific travel restrictions and no high- or medium-risk areas in the DR. It says the DR can be considered relatively safe, but that armed robberies and homicides have risen in recent years, mainly in big cities (advice updated 21 May 2026).³⁵
• Currency. US dollar amounts are our conversions at ECB average rates and move with the exchange rate.¹²
• Left out. A press figure for Spanish pensions abroad in February 2026 could not be checked against the original, so we do not use it.

8Sources

Figures were checked against the original publications. Where only press coverage could be read, the source line says so. “Our calculation” means we derived the figure from published numbers; the publisher did not print it.