How would you like to retire to Uruguay?
The Latin American country is the top destination for the growing trend of retirement migration, according to Global Citizen Solutions, an advisory company on international residency, which ranked 46 countries that actively canvass for retirement migrants on a set of five criteria: lifestyle, passport mobility and citizenship, taxes , procedure and costs and investment.
The top five countries were Uruguay, Mauritius, Spain, Costa Rica, Portugal.
“Retirement migration began as an internal, amenity-seeking movement within wealthy societies,” its report released on Oct. 1 said, but added that has since morphed into a global trend as the world’s population ages and becomes more wealthy .
The number of people aged 65 and older will likely more than double to 1.6 billion by 2050 from 761 million in 2021, the United Nations said, calling it a “longevity revolution.”
As more people look to spend their retirement years outside their home country, governments around the world have established programs to attract this growing cohort who have the money to fund a globe-trotting lifestyle. 
“Private wealth is large, expanding and increasingly mobile,” the report said.
The report said people 50 and older accounted for approximately half of all consumer spending in 2020 and that older households “command a rising share of accumulated wealth.”
“A larger, longer-lived and comparatively affluent older population thus constitutes not merely a growing supply of potential migrants but a prize of real fiscal significance for the states competing to attract them,” it said.
Total personal wealth grew by 10.8 per cent in U.S. dollar terms in 2025 and the number of millionaires increased, according to the latest UBS Global Wealth report.
The Global Citizen report focused on the “passive-income retirement” route, where a person must prove they have stable non-employment income such as a pension to support themselves in their new home.
Uruguay scored at least 75 out of 100 on the five metrics, registering strong results for mobility and costs and investment. Permanent resident status there is immediately granted upon proof of US1,700 per month of stable income and dual citizenship is also allowed.
But it has negatives, too.
“Quality of life is Uruguay’s relative weak point in the index, mainly because of its environmental performance score,” the report said. “That result does not change the country’s standing on the ground: Uruguay remains one of the most politically and economically stable countries in Latin America, one of the region’s leaders in quality of life and is regularly cited as its safest.”
Mauritius led the top five on taxes and is the “natural choice” for wealthy migrants seeking low tax rates, the report said.
The island nation off the southeast coast of Africa does not tax foreign pensions and income and the income required is US$2,000 a month.
“The program’s other scores are solid rather than exceptional,” with quality of life the lowest, the report said.
Spain has “the archetypal quality of life and mobility program,” scoring 94 on quality of life, though it placed last on taxes. There are taxes on worldwide income, inheritance and net wealth above three million euros. Potential migrants must prove they have 2,400 euros of “passive income” available and people are not allowed to work.
“The 2026 Global Retirement Report and Index confirms that there is no single best destination for retirement or passive-income residence, only the best fit for a particular set of priorities,” the report said.
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A global selloff in fixed-income has driven benchmark 10-year United States Treasury yields to the highest since 2007, and more than half of 173 respondents to a Markets Pulse survey last week predicted U.S. 30-year yields will hit six per cent by the end of the year. — Bloomberg
Keep reading here for 10 reasons why investors are driving bond yields higher.
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Today’s Posthaste was written by Gigi Suhanic with additional reporting from Financial Post staff and Bloomberg.
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Posthaste: Canadians mulling retirement abroad might want to consider one of these top ranked countries, says report
2026-10-02 12:00:32
